Hundreds of Americans are stuck on a cruise ship off Australia. The hull is said to be contaminated with biofouling, which has prevented the boat from docking for seven days, reports The Guardian this Sunday. Australia’s National Marine Coordination Center called for the boat to be cleaned immediately before allowing it to moor.
Plungers to clean up
The ship had left New Zealand on December 26 to introduce cruise passengers to Australia. The Australian Department of Fisheries has highlighted the dangerousness of this biofouling on marine fauna and flora to justify this decision. Despite hiring divers to clean the hull outside Australian waters, the situation did not change. On Twitter, some vacationers did not hesitate to make their dissatisfaction known.
“Shame on Viking Cruises for their negligence. They have now canceled three of our eight ports of call,” one wrote on social media, referring to “Dirty, biohazardous ship bottom.” Several others complained of having saved for several years for this now wasted trip. Nevertheless, the captain of the ship informed the passengers that they would benefit from an offer of compensation as soon as they returned home after the cruise.