Hundreds of passengers have been stranded on a cruise ship off Australia after a potentially harmful “marine growth” was found on its hull.
The Viking Orion was reportedly denied permission to dock in Adelaide after authorities discovered “biofoul” — an accumulation of micro-organisms, plants, algae or small animals.
Officials said the ship's hull must be cleaned before entering Australia, the BBC reported.
Divers had to remove the biofoul from the 930-berth ship while it was anchored in international waters, the Australian government said.
The cleaning was required to protect Australia's waters from “potentially harmful marine organisms”, the fisheries department told AFP.
The nine-deck Viking Orion, which was built in 2018 and has a spa, theatre, sports deck and pool, left Auckland on December 23, according to tracking website vesselfinder.com.
It showed the cruise liner had made no port calls since leaving the New Zealand capital, Wellington, on December 26 — missing stops in Christchurch, Dunedin and the Tasmanian state capital of Hobart.
“While the ship needed to miss several stops on this itinerary in order for the required cleaning to be conducted, she is expected to resume the current itinerary,” operator Viking told AFP.
“Viking is working directly with guests on compensation for the impact to their voyage.”
After being cleaned in international waters off Adelaide, the ship is expected to arrive in Melbourne later on Tuesday, the company and the Australian government said.
Viking confirmed it had to remove “a limited amount of standard marine growth” from the hull.
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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
UAE Tour 2020
Stage 1: The Pointe Palm Jumeirah - Dubai Silicon Oasis, 148km
Stage 2: Hatta - Hatta Dam, 168km
Stage 3: Al Qudra Cycle Track - Jebel Hafeet, 184km
Stage 4: Zabeel Park - Dubai City Walk, 173km
Stage 5: Al Ain - Jebel Hafeet, 162km
Stage 6: Al Ruwais - Al Mirfa, 158km
Stage 7: Al Maryah Island - Abu Dhabi Breakwater, 127km
Voy!%20Voy!%20Voy!
Fixtures
Tuesday - 5.15pm: Team Lebanon v Alger Corsaires; 8.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Pharaohs
Wednesday - 5.15pm: Pharaohs v Carthage Eagles; 8.30pm: Alger Corsaires v Abu Dhabi Storms
Thursday - 4.30pm: Team Lebanon v Pharaohs; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Carthage Eagles
Friday - 4.30pm: Pharaohs v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Team Lebanon
Saturday - 4.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Team Lebanon
The%20specs
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
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- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
First-round leaderbaord
-5 C Conners (Can)
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-2 C Morikawa (US), M Laird (Sco), C Tringale (US)
Selected others: -1 P Casey (Eng), R Fowler (US), T Hatton (Eng)
Level B DeChambeau (US), J Rose (Eng)
1 L Westwood (Eng), J Spieth (US)
3 R McIlroy (NI)
4 D Johnson (US)
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- 600-seat auditorium
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CAF Champions League semi-finals first-leg fixtures
Tuesday:
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Second legs:
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If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
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Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
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Uruguay 3 Russia 0
Uruguay: Suárez (10'), Cheryshev (23' og), Cavani (90')
Russia: Smolnikov (Red card: 36')
Man of the match: Diego Godin (Uruguay)
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What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
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Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
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