Passengers who booked luxury cruises along Western Australia’s remote Kimberley coast have been left facing significant losses after Kimberley Pearl Tours entered receivership, despite future sailings continuing to be advertised online.
Receivers were appointed to Kimberley Pearl Tours (KPT) in January 2026 after the company’s sole director, Daniel Brown, fell behind on repayments for a loan used to help purchase the business.
Brown took control of the company in 2024. The operator specialises in small-ship voyages aboard Kimberley Pearl, sailing through one of Australia’s most remote cruising regions.
Customers say they were not directly informed about the financial problems and, in some cases, only discovered that their cruises would not be going ahead after searching for information themselves.
The company’s website was still displaying cruises for the remainder of 2026 and into 2027 on 24th August, including itineraries lasting between seven and 13 nights. Some September 2026 departures were being displayed as having cabins available.
Passengers Discover Cruises Will Not Go Ahead
Among those affected is Bob Shawyer, who booked a trip with his wife last year and says he is now AUD8,500, approximately £4,460, out of pocket.
“My wife and I didn’t get a holiday we’ve been dreaming of,” Mr Shawyer said.
Rather than receiving notification from the cruise company that his holiday would not take place, Shawyer said he discovered the situation by chance while searching online.
He subsequently received an email requesting payment of the outstanding balance on his booking after learning that the company had entered receivership.
Another passenger, Ian Grant, had arranged a private cruise for a family trip and potentially faced a much larger financial loss.
Grant discovered that KPT had gone into receivership before receiving an invoice requesting a further AUD140,000, equivalent to more than £73,500.
“We could have paid that thinking it was hunky-dory,” he said.
According to ABC, invoices it reviewed were sent from a Kimberley Pearl email address approximately two to three months after receivers had been appointed in January.
Brown has denied sending invoices following the appointment of the receivers.
He said that he had previously lived aboard Kimberley Pearl while operating the business, but that the vessel was seized in February along with business assets and his personal belongings.
“It was therefore the receivers’ own refusal of access that placed the books and records beyond reach,” Mr Brown said in a statement.
Brown has also said it remains his “firm intention” to return Kimberley Pearl to service and provide refunds to affected customers, adding that he was “deeply sorry”.
“You trusted us with your holiday of a lifetime,” he said.
Customers who have already handed over deposits, however, say they remain uncertain about whether or when they
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