"Marine Growth" leaves hundreds stranded on cruise ship off Australia

 

A "marine growth" on the ship's hull reportedly left passengers on a luxurious New Year's cruise through New Zealand and Australia trapped on board for a week.

The 930-berth Viking Orion had to have the "biofoul" — a buildup of bacteria, plants, algae, or small animals — removed by divers while it was anchored in international waters, according to the Australian authorities.

The fisheries agency said in a statement that the cleanup was necessary to protect Australia's seas from "possibly dangerous marine creatures."

According to the tracking website vesselfinder.com, the nine-deck Viking Orion, which was built in 2018 and has a spa, theatre, sports deck, and pool, departed Auckland on December 23.

However, the cruise liner had not made any port calls since departing Wellington, New Zealand, on December 26, according to the tracker, ostensibly skipping scheduled stops in Christchurch, Dunedin, and the Hobart, Tasmania, capital.

The Viking Orion was finally docked in Melbourne on Monday night, according to the tracking website, after being cleaned in international seas off Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia.

Viking acknowledged that "a limited quantity of typical marine growth" needed to be removed from the hull.

The ship had to skip a few ports on this schedule so that the necessary cleaning could be done, but Viking said in a statement emailed to AFP that she is expected to resume the current itinerary.

Viking added, declining to provide more information, "Viking is working directly with guests on compensation for the effect on their voyage."