Silversea cruise passengers rescued off Adele Island after becoming trapped by outgoing tide
Silversea Silver Cloud cruise passengers were exploring Adele Island — located about 140km off the WA coastline and 285km north of Broome — when they became stranded by an outgoing tide on Thursday afternoon.
An outgoing tide is when the water moves away from the shoreline.
The passengers — who were about four nautical miles away from the cruise ship — waded through a shallow reef before being rescued by zodiac vessels which ferried them back to the boat.
Passenger Mark Reid said about 100 passengers and crew were stranded on the island.
'What started as a fabulous trip across to Adele Island ended up with 100 odd passengers and staff getting caught by the rapid tide going out and stranding us on the wrong side,' he posted on social media.
'We all had to get out and make our way across coral beds to make it to new zodiacs and get to the ship, with everyone helping each other to get there.
'Lots and lots of scrapes and quite a few twisted ankles ... this is what expedition cruising is all about I suppose.'
Passenger Des Groves said he safely returned to the cruise ship by about 10pm.
'We were going to Adele Island lagoon on a falling 7m tide, we got stuck on the reef and had to wait for the tide to turn,' he said on social media.
'We managed to get back to the ship at 10pm, we saw lots of turtles though.'
A Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson said all of its passengers and crew members were 'okay and back on board'.
'During a zodiac expedition, a tide change affected the return of a few small vessels to the ship,' the spokesperson said.
'Some guests experienced injuries and we immediately provided medical care.
'Everyone is okay and back on board.
'The safety of our guests and crew is our top priority.'
WA Police and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services were not alerted to the incident.
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