Passengers on an organized New Year’s cruise between New Zealand and Australia were stranded aboard the vessel for a week due to the presence of algae on the vessel’s hull, which had to be cleaned before the vessel was allowed to enter. port.
Divers had to remove ‘biofoul’ – a buildup of microorganisms, plants, algae or small animals – while the Viking Orion was anchored in international waters, the Australian government said. The cleanup was needed to protect Australian waters from “potentially harmful marine organisms,” the fisheries department said.
The 2018-built nine-deck Viking Orion with a spa, theatre, sports area and swimming pool left Auckland on 23 December, calling at Weelington on 26 December, but missing scheduled stops in Christchurch, Dunedin and the state capital of Tasmania, Hobart.
After cleaning up off the South Australian state capital Adelaide, the Viking Orion is finally expected to arrive in Melbourne on Tuesday at the latest, the company and the Australian government said.
The Viking Company confirmed it was removing “a limited amount of standard marine growth” from the hull. “The ship had to miss several stops along the itinerary in order to carry out the required cleaning. Now it is expected that she will resume the scheduled journey – Viking said -. We are agreeing the compensation arrangements with the guests”.