WWW- Passengers on P and O Cruises who engage in “excessive behaviour” will be removed from the ship, the company’s Australian branch said, after it emerged that nudity, streaking and sex in public were common on one luxury liner.

The announcement comes as coroners investigate the death of an Australian woman, who died from an overdose of the date rape drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate less than 24 hours after boarding P and O’s Pacific Sky ship in September 2002.

A former night manager on the liner told the inquest on Monday that as many as 20 people would be seen running around the ship naked every night.

Asked if nudity, streaking and sex in public were common during her more than 10 years working on board cruise ships, manager Kathleen Ann Taylor said: “All the time”.

P and O Cruises Australia said that from now on, unruly passengers would be disembarked at the next port of call and would not be refunded their fare.

“We accept that in the past the conduct of a small minority of our passengers and crew has clearly been unacceptable and our response on occasion has been inadequate,” the company said in a statement.

“This does not represent our company’s values and therefore, with immediate effect, we have introduced a policy to take strict action against excessive behaviour.”

P and O has already strengthened its safety and security procedures following the death of Dianne Brimble in 2002.

Brimble, who was on the holiday cruise with her young daughter, was found slumped naked on the floor of a cabin after just one night on board.

The coroner’s court has heard the usually reserved woman was seen dancing with a group of men in the ship’s disco just hours before she died.

Digital photos retrieved from a camera showed Brimble later having sex with one of the men in the cabin in which her body was found.

A string of passengers have testified about the drunken antics of the group of eight men on the cruise — who allegedly offered at least one woman a suspicious pink liquid to drink and sexually propositioned other females on board.

P and O’s beefed up security measures include increasing the number of security personnel on board, closing bars between 4:00 am and 10:00 am and installing 24-hour surveillance cameras onboard ships.

The company will also used drug sniffer dogs at the start of all cruises and has revised its policy in relation to the provision of alcohol.