Lae water police secure area around grounded MV Coral Adventurer
The Lae Water Police are providing a strong security presence at the grounding site of the Australian-registered ‘MV Coral Adventurer’.
The 123 passengers and crew have been disembarked to allow refloating operations to continue.
Reports from the Morobe Provincial Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Samson Siguyaru’s office confirmed that all 123 international passengers and crew are safe and accounted for after day three of the incident yesterday [December 29], with no reports of injuries or disturbances.
PPC Siguyaru said, his officers were on standby to manage crowd control, support inter-agency coordination, and secured the area while professional divers conducted underwater inspections of the grounded vessel.
“The underwater assessment carried out by the Pacific Towing divers who arrived on site on a Stabicraft vessel, confirmed that the ship remains firmly grounded on its hull with no critical damage identified at this stage.
"A detailed technical assessment is now being finalized to determine the most appropriate recovery strategy, while a larger tugboat en route from Lae is expected to commence towing operations today,” Siguyaro said.
He said that to allow rescue operations to continue, all passengers were safely disembarked under the supervision of the Lae Water Police and taken to Gingala Village, where the local community hosted sightseeing activities while salvage efforts continued.
PPC Siguyaru confirmed, that the Lutheran Shipping Service’s ‘MV Ialibu’ is scheduled to transport passengers to Lae today for temporary accommodation, pending the vessel’s recovery, repairs and clearance.
The rescue efforts began on Sunday, December 28, after the incident was reported to the PNG Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre [PNGMRCC] at around 6:57 am on Saturday, December 27, through the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre [JRCC] Australia, triggering a coordinated inter-agency response.
Multi-agency boarding and inspections involving the National Maritime Safety Authority [NMSA], Morobe Provincial Disaster Office, and the Lae Water Police then also confirmed there was no hull breach, no water ingress, and no marine pollution, with the vessel resting on a coral reef.
Attempts to refloat the grounded vessel on Sunday were unsuccessful, and the same outcome was seen on Monday. The Pacific Towing tugboat Macedon arrived at the site mid-morning, but efforts to refloat the vessel during high tide did not succeed. A second attempt was later suspended after the tugboat’s engine overheated.
PPC Siguyaru said his officers will remain on site to provide marine security, maintain an onboard presence, and continue providing situation reports. He also acknowledged the National Maritime Safety Authority as the lead agency responsible for vessel clearance under the Merchant Shipping Act.
The National Maritime Safety Authority has issued a formal detention order, meaning the vessel will not be allowed to leave Papua New Guinea waters until rescue efforts, inspections, and investigations are fully completed.
Salvage operations will continue today to refloat the MV Coral Adventurer, which is owned by the Coral Expedition Company of Australia.