Family blames casino debts for guest’s overboard death

Thursday, 15 May, 2024 0

It has been revealed a man who went overboard from a cruise ship near Sydney had run up a large debt in the ship casino.

His family hit out at P&O Cruises Australia’s gambling policy.

Shane Dixon, 50, went overboard just 10 nautical miles from Sydney Heads.

His brother revealed he racked up losses of A$5,000 which he borrowed from his mother, who was travelling with him, to pay off.

Dixon then ran up a further A$4,000 losses the following night.

He went overboard just a couple of hours before the Pacific Adventure ship was due to dock in Sydney.

“Our mother is devastated, broken,” said brother Scott Dixon

“The casino, they use all of these incentives to tell people, ‘Come back, come back’.”

“It would be inappropriate to comment on the tragic death of a guest while a Coroner’s investigation is carried out,” P&O Cruises Australia said.

The line says it strictly follows its Responsible Conduct of Gaming Policies.

“We are cooperating fully with the Coroner’s investigation.’

Cruise lines can generally adopt less strict policies due to sailing in international waters.

TravelMole Editorial Team

Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.

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