The passengers of the Viking Orion have been stranded for a week at sea off the coast of Australia. The marine organisms present on the ship’s hull were deemed “potentially dangerous” for the ecosystem.
They finally got their feet back on the ground. Passengers on a luxury New Year’s Eve cruise around New Zealand and Australia have been stranded for a week at sea due to a ‘marine growth’ clinging to the hull, which could have harmed the ecosystem if it had come to dock without cleaning.
According to the Australian government, divers had to remove an accumulation of micro-organisms, plants, algae or small animals from the Viking Orion, a 930-seater vessel, while it was anchored in international waters.
The cleanup was necessary to protect Australian waters from “potentially harmful marine organisms”, the Department of Fisheries explained in a statement sent to AFP.
The Viking Orion, a building built in 2018 with nine decks with a spa, a theater, a large sports area and a swimming pool, left Auckland, New Zealand on December 23. He had not made any more stops after leaving Wellington, the New Zealand capital, on December 26, according to a boat tracking website.
Several missed stops
In the meantime, the Viking Orion has therefore anchored and been cleaned up in international waters off the Australian city of Adelaide.
Stops were however planned in Christchurch and Dunedin, New Zealand, as well as in Hobart, the capital of the Australian state of Tasmania, before Melbourne, Australia, where the ship docked on Monday evening.
The Viking company confirmed that they had to remove “a limited amount of an ordinary marine growth” from the hull. “Although the ship had to miss several stops on this route in order for the necessary cleaning to be carried out, it should resume the current route,” Viking said according to AFP information.
“Viking is working directly with guests on compensation for the impact on their travel,” the company added, declining to give further details.
On Twitter, several passengers expressed their dissatisfaction with this change of plan. “Shame on Viking for their negligence,” denounced one of them.
“I’m stuck in the same boat as you. I’ve cried many times for both the significant financial hit after saving for 2 years and the loss of memories and experiences with my dad,” one replied. another passenger.
