Coral Adventurer crisis: Cruise ship stranded after vessel ran aground, just months after Suzanne Rees death

The Coral Adventurer, the Australian cruise ship that left an elderly woman behind on Lizard Island, has found itself in a new crisis off Papua New Guinea.

The ship left Cairns on December 18 with 123 people onboard, 80 passengers and 43 crew.

On Saturday morning, the ship ran aground, striking a reef around 30km off the coast of Lae, north of Port Moresby.

An emergency response followed, with the PNG Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre forced to step in, board the vessel and assist with getting passengers safely off the ship.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority says passengers and crew are safe.

“The incident has been reported to authorities and will undergo further official inspections to the hull and marine environment as a standard procedure,” a spokesman for the Coral Adventurer said as the emergency unfolded.

As it stands, it is understood all 123 people are stranded onboard, with it unclear if an evacuation has begun.

The ship, owned by NRMA, was back cruising with paying customers after the shocking death of an 80-year-old passenger, grandmother Suzanne Rees.

The grandmother, 80, had been on a Coral Adventurer cruise in October, something she paid $80,000 to do, before the cruise ship left her behind, alone on Lizard Island.

Rees had gone for a hike on Lizard Island, but was later found dead after she was left behind.