The Fiji Princess ended her days the way sailors have always feared, hard on the coral, taking water, in the dark.
It happened in the early hours of April 4 near Monuriki Island, a small uninhabited speck in Fiji’s Mamanuca group about 45 kilometres west of Nadi. The 55-metre Blue Lagoon Cruises vessel had been at anchor when a squall came through fast enough to drag her onto the reef before anything could be done. By the time light came up, she was hard aground, taking water, and her engines were gone.
All 61 people aboard got off. The 30 passengers were ferried to Port Denarau once a fast ferry came alongside at dawn. Most of the 31 crew followed. A handful stayed on to assist the salvage assessment. No injuries were reported.
What happened next was a race against fuel. The Fiji Princess was carrying around 23,000 litres of diesel, and the reef she was sitting on is part of one of Fiji’s most dived marine environments. Australian salvors were on site by April 5. By the following day they had pumped all pumpable fuel off the vessel. The reef, for now, was spared the worst.
Blue Lagoon Cruises described calm conditions at anchor before a sudden squall hit. That account sat awkwardly alongside a nationwide heavy rain alert already issued that morning, and Category 3 Tropical Cyclone Vaianu bearing down on the western islands. The Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji has begun a formal investigation.
After nearly two weeks of assessments, Blue Lagoon made the call. The Fiji Princess, 22 years in the fleet and a fixture on the Mamanuca and Yasawa runs, would not sail again. Removing her from the reef is expected to take one to three months.
Passengers seeking refunds will find little in the fine print. A Force Majeure clause rules out cash refunds, offering a transfer to a future departure instead. The contract falls under Fijian law.
Blue Lagoon has worked these islands for over 75 years. Its newest vessel, the MV Yasawa Princess II, 44 passengers across 22 cabins, makes her maiden voyage April 27. She was already in the water before this happened.
Monuriki is the island used to film Cast Away. In the movie, a man spends years stranded there. Everyone aboard the Fiji Princess was home within hours. The ship wasn’t.
