Passengers to be compensated after algae spoils Australia-New Zealand cruise

Viking Cruises will compensate hundreds of passengers on its Orion cruise ship after cruisers were forced to stay on board and miss multiple stops because officials blocked port access due to marine growth on the ship’s hull.
The 930-guest capacity Viking Orion docked in Sydney on Wednesday, the final stop on what is normally a 15-day, 9-stop cruise of New Zealand and Australia.
But plans went awry, local media reported, after New Zealand officials asked the ship to leave the country’s waters part way through its cruise after finding small amounts of biofoul – plants, algae and small animals – that grow on ship hulls.
Steaming directly to the southern Australian port of Adelaide and bypassing planned stops in Tasmania and New Zealand’s south island, officials stopped the ship approximately 12 nautical miles out to sea while professional divers cleared the hull.
The four-year-old luxury vessel finished its journey as planned with stops in Melbourne and Sydney.