A cruise ship carrying 2,000 passengers is stranded off the coast of Brisbane and the ship is unable to dock due to heavy waves and rough seas.
The Coral Princess has been prevented from entering Brisbane Harbor by waves of up to 6.5 meters as passengers have shared images of the ship rocking and water overflowing from the ship’s pools.
The passengers are now stuck with the ship idling about 40 kilometers from the coast.
The ship is the same ship that made headlines last week when it arrived in Sydney with about 120 positive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.
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The Caloundra Coastguard has instructed the vessel to stay a safe distance from shore until the waters within the harbor calm.
The seven-day cruise along the coast of Queensland and NSW was due to end on Friday, but Princess Cruises confirmed passengers were likely to remain on the ship throughout Saturday.
“The Port of Brisbane remains closed to shipping and pilotage services also remain suspended due to the current heavy swell at the pilotage station,” Princess Cruises told SkyNews.com.au.
“Pilot service is unlikely to resume before midday today (Saturday), which would mean an afternoon arrival of Coral Princess at the Brisbane International Cruise Terminal.”
Passengers had visited Airlie Beach, Cairns and Port Douglas during the trip and Princess Cruises said they were being “well looked after” and were receiving regular updates on how the situation was developing.
“Guests who were due to board Coral Princess yesterday for a similar cruise itinerary are also being regularly updated on developments with advice on the impact on their itinerary,” Princess Cruises said.
Queensland is experiencing wild weather and heavy storms with large parts of the south-east inundated with floodwaters.
Several large ships have been forced to remain at sea due to safety concerns, but the Coral Princess is the only passenger ship.
“All of them have only been instructed to float or drift, but the Coral Princess because she has passengers on board is unable to do that,” Caloundra Coastguard Commander Roger Pearce told the ABC.
“So it’s just motor, in circles at a very low speed, so it just keeps moving.”
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a strong sea wind warning for Saturday for the Capricorn Coast, Fraser Island Coast, Sunshine Coast Waters and Gold Coast Waters.
A high wind warning was also issued for Fraser Island, Sunshine Coast waters and Gold Coast waters on Sunday.
It is currently unknown when the Coral Princess will be able to dock.