Coral Princess cruise ship unable to dock in wild weather off Queensland coast

Cruise ship is stuck in massive swell off the coast of Australia with thousands of passengers on board – just days after it battled 120 Covid cases

Two thousand cruise ship passengers are stranded at sea in massive swells as wild weather continues to batter Australia’s east coast.

The Coral Princess cruise ship is 40km off Queensland’s Sunshine Coast unable to dock in Brisbane due to the extreme conditions.

It’s the same cruise ship which had 120 Covid-infected passengers on board when the vessel docked in Sydney last week.

Extraordinary footage obtained from passengers on board shows the ship being rocked by  the 6.5metre waves and water spouting from the top deck pool towards the sky.

It’s not known when the cruise ship will be able to dock. 

‘They’ve all been instructed just to float or drift, but the Coral Princess because it has passengers on board is unable to do that,’ Caloundra Coast Guard Commander Roger Pearce told the ABC.

‘So it’s just motoring, in circles at a very low speed so it keeps moving.’

More than 100 passengers and staff were infected on the Coral Princess as it travelled from Port Douglas in Far North Queensland to Brisbane last week.

The contagion on the vessel was the first since local cruises resumed in May after a two year shutdown.

The outbreak led to Princess Cruises offering refunds to those booked on its next 12-day trip before it departed from Brisbane to Sydney.

The Coral Princess cruise ship is currently stranded in 6.5metre ways off the Queensland coast

The vessel is a sister ship to the Ruby Princess that was linked to 28 deaths after an massive outbreak on board in 2020 which shut down Australia’s cruise industry for two years.

Gale force winds and rainfall have continued to batter the east coast, with the wet weather set to linger throughout the weekend.

Six-metre waves have formed off the coast of Queensland with dangerous surf conditions stretching down to the Northern Rivers region in NSW on Friday.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a gale force warning with 90km/hr winds to batter the state from Rockhampton to the Gold Coast.

Gold Coast beaches have been closed while fishermen with boats have been told to stay home and avoid the waters until late Sunday. 

More downpours are on the way for south-east Queensland and the Northern Rivers region of NSW, with some areas to receive a month’s worth of rain in a day.

Brisbane is expected to receive up to 35mm – 5mm more than its average rainfall for July – while Maroochydore, on the Sunshine Coast, could get up to 60mm – 6mm less than its average monthly rainfall.

A severe weather warning for damaging surf is also in place for the north coast of NSW from Tweed Heads to the north of Wooli. 

Five-day forecast across Australia 

Sydney:

Friday: Max 17C (showers)

Saturday: Min 12C, Max 18C (showers easing)

Sunday: Min 11C, Max 18C (shower or two)

Monday: Min 9C, Max 18C (possible shower)

Tuesday: Min 9C, Max 19C (shower or two) 

Brisbane:

Friday: Max 18C (rain)

Saturday:  Min 13C, Max 21C (partly cloudy)

Sunday: Min 11C, Max 23C (sunny)

Monday: Min 10C, Max 23C (mostly sunny)

Tuesday: MIn 10C, Max 26C (mostly sunny) 

Adelaide:

Friday: Max 17C (cloudy)

Saturday: Min 10C, Max 17C (partly cloudy)

Sunday: Min 9C, Max 19C (showers increasing)

Monday: Min 11C, Max 15C (showers)

Tuesday: Min 9C, Max 15C (cloudy)

Canberra:

Friday: Max 14C (possible shower)

Saturday: Min 3C, Max 15C (cloudy)

Sunday: Min 1C, Max 16C (mostly sunny)

Monday: Min 1C, Max 15C (possible late shower)

Tuesday: Min 3C, Max 13C (shower or two)

Melbourne:

Friday: Max 17C (mostly sunny)

Saturday: Min 9C, Max 16C (shower or two developing)

Sunday: Min 9C, Max 18C (mostly sunny afternoon)

Monday: Min 9C, Max 17C (showers developing)

Tuesday: Min 9C, Max 14C (showers)

Perth:

Friday: Max 19C (possible shower)

Saturday: Max 19C (showers)

Sunday: Min 6C, Max 17C (showers easing)

Monday: Min 7C, Max 18C (possible shower)

Tuesday: Min 8C, Max 19C (shower or two) 

Hobart:

Friday: Max 14C (mostly sunny)

Saturday: Min 8C, Max 16C (cloudy)

Sunday: Min 8C, Max 16C (cloudy)

Monday: Min 5C, Max 15C (possible shower)

Tuesday: Min 7C, Max 13C (shower or two) 

Darwin:

Friday: Max 30C (sunny)

Saturday: Min 15C, Max 29C (sunny)

Sunday: Min 15C, Max 29C (sunny)

Monday: Min 16C, Max 30C (sunny)

Tuesday: Min 18C, Max 32C (mostly sunny) 

Source: Bureau of Meteorology 

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