A luxury boat heading to the Kimberley to take tourists on thousand-dollar tours off northern Western Australia has run aground off the coast.
MV Diversity II, a 12-passenger charter boat, was on its way to Broome to begin its March dry season tours when it ran into reef off Greens Island, inside the Jurien Bay Marine Park, last week.
Pictures taken from the shore and other boats appear to show the charter boat half out of the water, mounted on a reef.
A spokesperson for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said they had been made aware of the ongoing incident in the protected marine space.
"[The authority] will complete an investigation into the causes of the grounding. As the investigation is ongoing, no further information is available at this time," AMSA said.
The boat is currently operated by Diversity Charters, and a spokesperson said they were looking to mitigate disruption to their services.
"It's too early to tell the extent of the damage," they said.
"However we have contacted guests that have been immediately impacted and will continue to communicate to guests as more information comes to light.
"Our second vessel is operating as normal."
The incident comes after nearly three years of pain in the Kimberley tourism industry due to disruptions including COVID, border closures, and the recent flooding in Fitzroy Crossing.
Tourism Council of WA chief executive Evan Hall previously told travellers to keep their bookings in the Kimberley as operators struggled with millions of dollars in lost earnings since 2020.
