[World] Viking Orion: Cruise passengers stranded after marine growth halts ship

Hundreds of passengers have been stranded on a cruise ship off the Australian coast after a potentially harmful growth was found on its hull.

The Viking Orion was reportedly denied permission to dock in Adelaide after authorities discovered “biofoul” – an accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae, or small animals.

This can allow invasive species to be imported into non-native habitats.

Officials said the ship’s hull must be cleaned before entering Australia.

Previous reports suggested the growth was a fungus, but this was not confirmed by the Australian fisheries department.

The department said the management of biofoul was a “common practice for all arriving international vessels” and that the ship had to be cleaned to avoid “harmful marine organisms being transported” into Australian waters.

“Professional divers were engaged directly by the vessel line/agent to clean the hull while at anchor outside Australian waters,” it added.

The ship was also reportedly denied permission to dock at Christchurch, Dunedin and Hobart. One passenger wrote on Twitter that over 800 guests remained onboard, many of whom were “upset and angry” by the company’s “negligence”.

The 14-deck, 930-person ship – which was built in 2018 – has reportedly dropped anchor around 17 miles (27km) off the coast while the cleaning occurs.

In a statement, operator Viking admitted that a “limited amount of standard marine growth” was being cleared from the ship’s hull and said that this had caused the vessel to “miss several stops on this itinerary”.

But it said that it expected to sail towards the city of Melbourne in the coming hours, where it would dock on 2 January. “Viking is working directly with guests on compensation for the impact to their voyage,” it added.

In a letter on Friday, the ship’s captain apologised that “the current cruise falls short of your expectations” and said a member of Viking’s customer relations team would make an “adjusted offer of compensation” to guests in the coming days.