The cleanup was needed to protect Australian waters from “potentially harmful marine organisms,” the Fisheries Department said in a statement sent to AFP.
The Viking Orion, a nine-story building built in 2018 with a spa, theater, large sports area and swimming pool, left Auckland, New Zealand, on December 23, but made no further stops after its departure from Wellington, the capital of New Zealand on Dec. 26, according to tracking website vesselfinder.com.
However, stops were scheduled in Christchurch and Dunedin, New Zealand, as well as Hobart, the capital of the Australian state of Tasmania, before Melbourne, Australia, where the ship docked on Monday evening.
Meanwhile, the Viking Orion anchored and was cleaned up in international waters off the Australian city of Adelaide, according to the monitoring site.
The Viking Company has confirmed that it has to withdraw “a limited amount of a normal marine growth” some coke
“Although the ship had to skip several stops on this route to be able to carry out the necessary cleaning, it should resume its current course”, Viking said in a statement sent to AFP.
“Viking is working directly with guests on compensation for the impact on their trip,” the company added, declining to provide further details.
