A Princess Cruises' ship carrying ~2000 passengers is stranded off the coast of Brisbane (Queensland Australia) being unable to dock due to high swells/wild seas.
Coral Princess was prevented from entering Brisbane Harbour due to waves up to 6,5 m / 22 ft. Cruise tourists shared footage of the liner rocking and water overflowing from the Lido Deck's pools.
Cruisers are now stuck with the ship idling ~40 km / 25 mi offshore.
Coral Princess recently made headlines arriving in Sydney with ~120 COVID cases.
Caloundra Coast Guard instructed the vessel to keep a safe distance from the shore until the waters inside Brisbane Harbour calm down.
The 7-day voyage along the QLD and NSW coast was due to end on Friday, July 22, but Princess Cruises confirmed the travelers were likely to remain onboard throughout Saturday as Port Brisbane remained closed to shipping and pilotage services also remained suspended due to the strong swell at the pilot station.
“The pilotage service is unlikely to resume before noon today (Saturday), which would mean a late afternoon arrival for Coral Princess at the Brisbane International Cruise Terminal.”
Passengers visited Port Douglas, Airlie Beach, and Cairns on the voyage and Princess said they were being “well cared for” and were receiving regular updates on the developments.
The company said that guests who were due to board Coral Princess for a similar itinerary were also being "regularly updated on developments with advice to come on the impact on their itinerary."
Queensland is currently being lashed by wild weather/major storms with large parts of the southeast being inundated with flood waters.
A number of large ships have been forced to remain offshore over safety concerns but Coral Princess is the only passenger vessel.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a marine strong wind warning for Saturday on Fraser Island Coast, Capricornia Coast, Gold Coast Waters, and Sunshine Coast Waters.
A strong wind warning was issued for Sunday on Fraser Island Coast, Gold Coast Waters, and Sunshine Coast Waters.
It is not yet known when the Coral Princess ship will be able to dock.
For more Coral Princess incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.