Crown Princess - Day 5 - The Kangaroo Island Incident

Cruise Ship Tender Boat Runs Aground, Passengers Don Life Jackets

By Lissa Poirot

Dec 19, 2024

Passengers traded deck shoes for a daring wade when their tender boat sputtered and stranded them near Kangaroo Island, Australia.

Over 30 guests of Princess Cruise’s Crown Princess, taking an excursion to the natural wildlife destination off the coast of South Australia, were onboard the tender when engine failure ran the boat into the sand on December 18, 2024.

The fully clothed passengers were forced to wade through thigh-deep water in rough surf to reach the beach and connect to Penneshaw Ferry Terminal to meet their excursions.

Bystanders on the beach filmed the incident and took to social media, where one said her brother and sister-in-law were one of those forced to walk ashore. 

“They had to put their life jackets on and jump into thigh-deep water and wade into the beach,” she posted. “Of course, they missed their excursion.”

https://www.cruisehive.com/cruise-ship-tender-boat-runs-aground-passengers-don-life-jackets/154332 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwUqKUBEh2M

There is also a you tube video on the above link...

The reason we were pleased to book this cruise was that it included a stop at Kangaroo Island in South Australia. We had a tour booked to explore the highlights of the island for early afternoon.

It was a shore trips were you where transferred on a tender boat (life boat).

There were 99 guests on the tender not 30 as the press reported.

 It all started okay, it was a bit rough, then as we were waiting to dock at the wharf on the island the engine cut out, then the second engine went as well and the poor young driver or the other crew couldn't get it started. He was on the radio saying he needed help....

Then we hit the sandbank, BANG.

The waves were washing in the open hatches soaking some people, and it was time for the life jackets.

(Which were really difficult to get out from under the seats, unwrap from the plastic covers and then put on in such a restricted space).

I could see some of the crew already in the water so we knew it was only waist high. 

We had to jump from the tender into the water!

It wasn't as bad as its sounds, there were 2 blokes each side of the hatch to help, you sat down on the edge of the tender, (looked a lot further to drop once sitting there) then you 'jumped' down into the water where there were another couple of people to catch you and almost keep you upright.

I was wet to the waist, Graham took his shoes off and hung then around his neck, mine were soaked as I left them on. I wasn't sure what the seabed would be like and I didn't want to land awkwardly on my hip.

At least the water wasn't too cold and the sand was lovely. I was just pleased to get off the boat as I was worried it would tip on its side, although I later heard it was a double hull so unlikely to tip. They also let everyone take their bags off which helped keep people calm.  We had our phones, kindle, camera and passports with us, we shoved everything into my backpack which Graham carried ashore. My poor hat is now squished!

 

First time we've been shipwrecked!

We went straight back to the wharf and got the next tender back.

 

We sat next to the same 2 couples that we were with on the trip over (from Top Ryde and London) and laughed and laughed!

 

 

 

They towed the tender back later that afternoon. We watched it from our cabin.

We were lucky it landed on the beach and not the breakwater.

Afterwards, we had lots of contact from the crew who were making sure everyone was okay.

And we had an entertaining story to tell at dinner that night.

 

We missed the tour of course, but we will get a refund.

 

We heard it made the news in Adelaide... 

The next time they use the tenders is Port Arthur. I hope ours is not tender 22 again.