Passengers on Grounded Cruise Ship in Papua New Guinea Will be Flown Home

The cruise ship Coral Adventurer has been detained in Papua New Guinea after running aground on a reef, and the passengers will be flown home on a charter flight, according to the operator.

The ship ran aground on a reef near Dreghafen Point off the east coast of the island, about 15 nautical miles from the port of Lae. Strong currents were a likely contributing factor, according to Travel and Tour World. The site of the grounding is known as a shallow coral ridge, and local navigators tend to avoid it, regional governor Rainbo Paita told ABC. On a nautical chart provided by Pole Star Global, the site is marked with the symbol for breakers, indicating shallow water.

The cruise ship has a slight list of about six degrees to port, but no damage to the vessel has been found, nor has any pollution been reported, the master told local authorities. All 124 personnel aboard are safe, according to Papua New Guinea's National Maritime Safety Authority.

Separately, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has detained Coral Adventurer on "reasonable suspicion that it is not seaworthy due to potential damage sustained during grounding." The ship is in foreign waters, but it is Australian-flagged and therefore within AMSA's jurisdiction. AMSA also asserted that Coral Adventurer is "sub?standard as a result of failures in the implementation of its Safety Management System under the International Safety Management Code," though did not provide further details.

On Sunday, an initial high-tide refloat attempt using the ship's own engines was not successful. Another attempt is expected, and the operator is making contingency plans if this does not work, the authority said in a statement.