Coral Expeditions insider claims boat that left behind Suzanne Rees was understaffed and under time pressure
A fatal error that left grandmother Suzanne Rees to die on Lizard Island during a cruise was due to increased pressure on staff, an inside source has claimed.
Conditions on board the Coral Expeditions cruise that left a grandmother to die on Lizard Island were wracked with intense pressure and understaffing before the fatal error, an insider claims.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the Coral Adventurer’s 60-night cruise circumnavigating Australia on which Suzanne Rees, 80, died was delayed for one week due to mechanical problems.
“The whole trip was a mess,” they said.
“They spent the first week of the trip docked in Cairns (because) someone on board pressed the wrong button and just carked the engine.”
The insider said that this delay caused “head office” to put “so much pressure on everyone to do everything really quickly” and that the boat was “understaffed” as crew could not make the trip’s new start date.
Due to this shortage, the vessel was allegedly low on “expedition” team members – the crew responsible for taking passengers out on excursions.
The insider said this meant there was not enough people to have someone “at the back of the line” during the Lizard Island hike.
Ms Rees, who is from Sydney, left the group unescorted after falling ill during the expedition.
“A bunch of guests got heat stroke that day,” the insider explained.
“There was no one at the back to even notice (Ms Rees departed the hike).
“There were some people snorkelling and some people hiking (and) there should be four crew with both groups and I think there was two.”
A Coral Expeditions spokesperson denied the claims in a statement to The Advertiser.
“Staffing levels on the Coral Adventurer – and for the Lizard Island walk – were entirely consistent with previous cruises and in line with regulatory and operational requirements,” they said.
The insider explained that crew usually “triple check” the list of passengers when returning from an excursion.
However, they claim this process was rushed due to pressure from management to complete tasks quickly so as not to create further delays.
“They were in a rush and when they rechecked the manifest (list) no one could tell if it was a smudge or if it was a tick (next to Ms Rees’s name),” the insider said.
“They were in a rush so they just saw something there (and left).”
The source said that one employee had expressed concern to management about the hike not being suitable for elderly passengers and urged them to stop offering it.
“It is famously quite a dangerous excursion for the older people,” the insider said.
“It shouldn’t have been offered if it’s not safe.”
The ordeal had left Coral Expeditions staff “shaken”, with around 120 crew members now looking for new jobs in the maritime industry, the source said.
“(Coral Adventures) just wanted to continue the trip and pretend nothing happened,” they said.
“I think they’re just waiting for it to blow over. It’s disgusting.”
The insider confirmed that it was a passenger who was the first person to notice Ms Rees’ absence, with crew believing she was “man overboard”.
However, they said the boat did not turn around until five or six hours after they left the island.
“She was abandoned,” the source said.
“The whole company’s thing is that they are safe for old people, they exclusively look after old people … this is insane.”
Coral Expeditions said they would not comment on matters of the investigation while it was underway.
