Viking Orion: Cruise passengers stranded after marine growth halts ship- PublishedHundreds of passengers have been stranded on a cruise ship off the Australian coast after a potentially harmful growth was found on its hull.The Viking Orion was denied permission to dock in Adelaide after authorities discovered "biofoul" - an accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae or small animals.The next chance for passengers to disembark will be on 4 January in Sydney.In a statement, operator Viking admitted that a "limited amount of standard marine growth" was being cleared from the ship's hull and said that this had caused the vessel to "miss several stops on this itinerary".In a letter on Friday, the ship's captain apologised that "the current cruise falls short of your expectations" and said a member of Viking's customer relations team would make an "adjusted offer of compensation" to guests in the coming days."