Ship hasn’t docked in a port since it cast off from Wellington in New Zealand on Boxing Day

 

Hundreds of passengers stranded on a cruise ship off South Australia are hoping to set foot on dry land for the first time in seven days after the vessel was unable to dock at several ports due to a “marine growth” – reported to be a form of fungus – in the ship’s hull.

Australian regulations on preventing invasive species reaches beyond fining people for bringing Subway sandwiches into the airport. Typically a vessel needs a major hull scrape with smaller vessels dry-docking for a thorough inspection and scrape at their last port call before entering Australian waters. Once in these waters, the vessel can only lay-to or go on anchor for a maximum of 10 days before a mandatory sea cruise is required to dislodge whatever has grown, be it local or a persistent hull growth from overseas like this passenger liner seems to have encountered while in transit.