Australia, New Zealand cruise passengers stranded by ‘biofoul marine growth’ on hull
- Australia said divers had to remove ‘biofoul’ – accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae – from Viking Orion in international waters, to protect nation’s seas
- Ship apparently missed scheduled stops after leaving New Zealand’s Wellington on December 26; firm said the vessel is now ‘expected to resume the current itinerary’
Passengers on a luxury New Year’s cruise around New Zealand and Australia have reportedly been stranded on board for a week because of a “marine growth” on the ship’s hull.
Divers had to remove the “biofoul” – an accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae or small animals – from the 930-berth Viking Orion while it was anchored in international waters, the Australian government said.
The cleaning was required to protect Australia’s waters from “potentially harmful marine organisms”, the fisheries department said in a statement sent to AFP.
The nine-deck Viking Orion, built in 2018 with a spa, theatre, sports deck and pool, left Auckland on December 23, according to tracking website vesselfinder.com.
But the cruise ship had made no port calls since leaving the New Zealand capital Wellington on December 26, the tracker said, apparently missing scheduled stops in Christchurch, Dunedin and the Tasmanian state capital of Hobart.
After being cleaned in international waters off the South Australian state capital Adelaide, the Viking Orion was finally docking in Melbourne on Monday evening, the tracking website showed.