CORAL ADVENTURER
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Factfinding report into grounding published
The 'Coral Adventurer' ran aground on a reef off Papua New Guinea after the ship's ECDIS declined to load the chief mate's route plan, the first in a series of events that led to the ship overshooting a turn and overcorrecting, according to a factfinding report of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). On the morning of Dec 27, 2025, the 'Coral Adventurer' was underway off the remote northeastern coast of Papua New Guinea and nearing the small port of Dregerhafen. The waters on the approach are ringed by reefs, with large areas poorly surveyed, and vessels have to execute two tight turns to reach the harbour entrance, first to port, then to starboard. At the start of the 04.00 a.m. watch, the cruise ship was approaching Dregerhafen's harbor entrance. The chief mate had the conn, and decided to adjust the route in the ECDIS to smooth out the second of the two turns of the transit, thereby creating a new route plan in the digital chart system's storage. The new Route 2 still adhered closely to the passage plan's track, but with an extra waypoint. At 05.12 a.m., as the approach to the port was in progress, the mate selected this modified route and tried to activate it. The ECDIS declined to do so until after it had performed a route safety check in its route editor tool. The chief mate had to go through the process of this digital check mid-transit. At 05.13 a.m., the 'Coral Adventurer missed its first wheel over point and overshot its turn to port. This put it on course to enter unsurveyed and potentially hazardous waters to the north of the route. The chief mate put steering in manual and made a harder turn to get back onto the route. The vessel returned to the planned track, but slowed down, affected by a strong current at the entrance channel. The chief mate increased RPM on both thrusters to offset the current, which had reduced speed to less than four knots. With the throttes pushed up, the mate put steering back into autopilot at 05.18 a.m., in advance of the second turn. At 05.19 a.m., the vessel arrived at the second wheel over point, making eight knots. The vessel overshot the turn again, prompting the mate to switch back to manual once more at 05.21 a.m. The ship was off course to the west of the intended trackline, and the mate made a hard turn to starboard to get onto the planned track. At this point, the chief mate lost situational awareness, they later told investigators. In darkness and without navigation aids, they did not have a sense of the surrounding topography. The mate kept up the high rate of turn to starboard until 05.23:30 a.m., coming up on a northeasterly heading back towards the trackline. Misinterpreting the view ahead and believing that the ship was back on track, the mate continued to navigate across the trackline, making more than eight knots. At 05.24 a.m., the master arrived on the bridge, and visually spotted shallow water ahead; the ship grounded about 15 seconds after the master's warning. The Coral Adventurer came from 8.5 knots to a halt by 05.25:30 a.m. Dive inspections revealed that the hull was not penetrated, and that the propulsion was intact. A tug was chartered for a refloat attempt, but this was initially unsuccessful, as the tug's engines overheated during the effort. A larger tug was dispatched, and the 'Coral Adventurer' was successfully refloated on Dec 30. The report from March 11, 2026, was a factfinding summary, without causal findings. The ATSB's inquiry into the cause of the grounding remained under way.
Cruise ship refloated and anchored
The 'Coral Adventurer' was successfully refloated on Dec 30 at around 6 p.m. An initial salvage attempt by PacTow’s tug 'Macedon' (IMO: 7529811) had failed, after the tug’s engine overheated. The more powerful 'Langila' (IMO: 9018933) was subsequently deployed for this task. After the salvage, the cruise ship dropped anchor near Bugaim in pos. 06° 39' N 147° 51' E, where divers and authorities started to survey the condition of the hull. The salvage was carried out in a multi-agency response using PacTow tugs from Lae. The manoeuvre was started after the passengers aboard were safely evacuated to the chartered Lutheran Shipping ferry 'Ialibu' (IMO: 9795749), which took them 30 kilometers to Lae to board a repatriation flight to Cairns. 78 of the passengers were international tourists, while the remaining five included a female PNG Customs officer, a male PNG shipping agentbased in Madang, and three off-duty crew members of the cruise ship, who were due for end-of-year leave. There were no injuries amongst thepassengers or the 43 crew members. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has despatched investigators to the ship, which were being guarded by local Water Police, who had also proved an escort forthe 'Ialobo'. The force provided land and water security. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has detained the vessel in accordance with the Navigation Act 2012, based on reasonable suspicion that it was not seaworthy due to potential damage sustained during the grounding, and that was is sub-standard as a result of failures in the implementation of its Safety Management System under the International Safety Management Code. The 'Coral Adventurer' remained stationary as of Jan 8. Report with photo: https://www.rivieramm.com/news-content-hub/news-content-hub/pacific-towing-refloats-grounded-expedition-cruise-ship-87341?fbclid=Iwb21leAPMuDRjbGNrA8y4KGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHuDc3hdCVFT7ODxp3xI7JN9Lm0RO875wD53tHiWncu6kp08TDRT0XMHsm0nj_aem_MLvDKeO7dbhB3WkkJvd7Ow
Grounded cruise ship detained
The 'Coral Adventurer' has been detained in Papua New Guinea (PNG) waters after running aground on a reef near Dregerhafen Point, off PNG’s north coast on Dec 27 at about 5.25 a.m. LT, leading to investigations by maritime authorities in both PNG and Australia. At the time, the ship was carrying 80 passengers and 43 crew members. No injuries were reported, and there were no initial signs of water entering the vessel. However, the full extent of any damage was still unknown, as the ship remained stuck on the reef. PNG’s acting police commissioner, Samson Kua, said the vessel has been formally detained and ordered to stay in PNG waters until all required checks have been completed. The National Maritime Safety Authority of Papua New Guinea was investigating the grounding and will issue clearance to the ship’s captain only after all formalities have been cleared. Australia’s Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has also detained the ship under the Navigation Act 2012. It has concerns that the vessel may not be seaworthy because of possible damage caused during the grounding. The authority also raised issues related to how the ship’s Safety Management System was implemented under the International Safety Management Code. The AMSA was working closely with the ship’s operator, its classification society and PNG maritime authorities. The ship’s operator, Coral Expeditions, has said initial inspections did not show any damage. More detailed checks of the hull and the surrounding marine environment were to be carried out once the vessel has been refloated. Attempts to refloat the 'Coral Adventurer' using its own engines were unsuccessful. A tug was sent on Dec 28 to assist, and further refloating efforts were planned for Dec 30. The vessel was listing about six degrees to port side. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has also opened an investigation into the grounding. The bureau has secured data from the ship’s voyage data recorder and was collecting information such as ship tracking data, weather conditions, and crew and maintenance records. The ATSB investigators were planning to visit the vessel when possible. A preliminary report is expected in about two months, unless a serious safety issue is identified sooner. The passengers were disembarked to the passenger boat 'MC Ialibu' and taken to Lae on the afternoon. They were due to return to Australia on Dec 30 on a chartered flight to Cairns, and Coral Expeditions confirmed the remainder of the cruise was cancelled on Dec 29. The PNG authorities were also checking the reef near Dregerhafen Point for possible environmental damage, following reports that the vessel encountered strong sea currents while sailing towards Madang Province and the Sepik River. The 'Coral Adventurer' was already under a seperate and unrelated investigation. The Australian authorities are examining the death of the 80-year-old Sydney passenger Suzanne Rees, who was found dead on Lizard Island in October after allegedly being left behind during an excursion on the Great Barrier Reef. The Australian authorities said that no distress call was received from the vessel, but they were monitoring the situation and wee ready to assist PNG authorities if needed. Report with photos: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-30/coral-adventurer-passengers-begin-journey-home/106187482
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