It was meant to be a historic visit to Kangaroo Island by the biggest cruise ship in living memory but for hundreds of passengers it became a dramatic day as they were rescued from their beached tenders or left stranded at Kingscote wharf.
The MV Athena moored off the Spit in Nepean Bay on Tuesday morning with 500 passengers aboard and began ferrying them in three tenders to shore.
A tender, carrying 51 passengers, ran aground about 11am. A second tender carrying three crew ran aground when it went to help.
They remained beached for most of the afternoon waiting for high tide, with just skeleton crew aboard.
Passengers were transported from the tender by a third tender as the Cooinda charter vessel from American River stood by and three helicopters, including police, hovered in the area. Many more passengers were left stranded at the wharf as one tender began the slow process of bringing them all back to the cruise ship.
The Coast Guard was in attendance as were Anton and Brad Jamieson in the KI Natural Resources Management Board’s duck.
An ambulance crew and doctor were taken to the tenders in the Coast Guard vessel to check for injuries.
The Cooinda tried to drag one tender to deeper water about 4pm but decided it would have to wait until the tide was higher, with high tide expected at 9pm.
Local fisherman and boaties were perplexed about why the ship had anchored where it was instead of further into the bay where tenders would have a straighter run to the jetty.
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