by Sarah Kuta
Last updated: 2:40 PM ET, Mon December 29, 2025
In October, an Australian cruise company made headlines after an elderly passenger was found dead after being left behind during a hiking excursion. Now, the same brand is back in the news—this time, because its ship got stuck on a reef.
The Coral Adventurer collided with a coral reef off the coast of Papua New Guinea on December 27. After several unsuccessful attempts to free the ship, which is being operated by Coral Expeditions, passengers are now being picked up and flown home on a charter flight.
According to a spokesperson, there were no injuries to the 80 passengers or 44 crew members onboard at the time of the incident. The vessel does not appear to have sustained any damage.
However, it remains unclear why the captain steered the ship toward the reef.
“Local boat operators know the reef is very high there,” Rainbo Paita, the governor of Morobe province, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
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