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An extensive 60-day journey circling the Land Down Under has been cancelled following the tragic passing of an senior female passenger who was stranded by the cruise liner on a distant island.

The passenger had been hiking on Lizard Island with fellow passengers from the cruise ship, but separated from the party for a rest. The vessel left without her and came back later that day after the crew discovered the passenger was not present.

An extensive search operation discovered her remains the following day.

Officials are looking into the event, in coordination with investigators and the official investigator.

Chief Executive of the voyage organizer announced that passengers and staff on the vessel were informed that the remainder of the journey had been terminated due to the "sad loss and previous engine troubles".

In a statement, he added that travelers would be given a full refund, and said the operator was working "to arrange the travel back of the travelers via specially arranged planes".

Officials also published an updated announcement, and said they had "delivered a directive to the Commander" prohibiting any additional guests from entering the liner.

The official said that they would attend the liner in the port city upon its arrival.

Chronology of Occurrences

The ship initially left the coastal city on October 24th, and was just two days into the expedition at the point of the elderly woman's death. Lizard Island was the first stop on the journey.

Passengers on the ship - who generally pay tens of thousands of currency to take part in the cruise - were transported there for a day trip with the possibility of walking or snorkelling.

Family Statement

The child of the deceased woman said that her relatives was "surprised and saddened that the ship left the island after an organised outing without my mum".

Via her announcement, she described her mother as an "vigorous 80-year-old" who was a member of a walking club.

"According to scant details we have been told, it appears that there was a breakdown of responsibility and common sense," she stated.

She continued that she desired the investigation would be able to pinpoint what "the operator should have done that might have preserved Mother's life".

"We understand from the police that it was a exceptionally warm afternoon, and mum became unwell on the hill climb," she explained.

"They requested her to return, unescorted. Then the ship left, seemingly without performing a roll call.

"At some stage in that process, or soon after, she passed away, by herself."

Organization Response

In a statement, the Chief Executive verified that the organization was "cooperating fully with officials to aid their inquiry".

He stated that the organization was "very regretful that this has occurred" and had provided its full support to the family.

Cruise Industry Practices

The ship serves up to a hundred twenty guests with forty-six personnel, according to official data. It was specially constructed to enter remote areas of Australia's coast and is outfitted with "tenders" - compact vessels used to ferry travelers on shore trips.

Occurrences such as this are uncommon, and cruise ships have systems to track which travelers are getting on or disembarking, according to industry experts.

"Going ashore secretly or [back] aboard just isn't an option," one expert commented.

Vessel operators consider these procedures very seriously and have "clever tech in place to prevent such occurrences from happening," the authority continued.

"This seems to be probably a surprising - and unfortunate - one-off."