Tuesday, April 2, 2024

'Rogue wave' strikes Antarctic cruise ship, leaves 1 dead and 4 injured

rogue waves cruise ships

Lawrence, who had picked the cruise to see the Northern Lights, said the day started out with fairly big waves but that the captain had let passengers know to expect that. But as the day went on, the waves got bigger until they were large enough to spray her window on the sixth deck, she said. The ship’s condition “remains stable and the crew are able to sail under their own power,” they said in an emailed statement. The ship "sustained limited damage during the incident" and arrived in Ushuaia Wednesday afternoon, Viking said in its statement. Suzie Gooding, who was on the ship when the incident happened, recalled feeling like they'd hit an iceberg, according to NBC affiliate WRAL of Raleigh, North Carolina. The nation's water and infrastructure authority said that was also a first.

Expedition cruise ship loses power after being hit by rogue wave - USA TODAY

Expedition cruise ship loses power after being hit by rogue wave.

Posted: Fri, 22 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

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rogue waves cruise ships

Ushuaia, at the southernmost tip of South America, is a common starting point for cruises to Antarctica. The Viking Polaris ship's next departure for the Antarctic, scheduled for Dec. 5, has been canceled "after careful consideration," the cruise line said. "No matter what side of the boat you're on, it was felt throughout the ship that clearly something bad had happened," she said. Californian Beverly Spiker told ABC News that a "huge smash" against the window of her and her husband's cabin caused her window frame to break. Passengers on board the ship described choppy conditions leading up to the incident. A guest died following the incident, Viking said, though did not share further details on the cause of death.

Passengers on Antarctic cruise ship hit by deadly 'rogue wave' speak out

"Following a detailed diagnosis by the ship's medical team, the decision was taken for the ship to immediately sail to Ushuaia so that the guest could receive additional medical care from a shore-based hospital," it continued. In fact, I happened to be on the Drake Passage at the same time as Viking Polaris, aboard Atlas Ocean Voyages' Atlas World Traveller. While we experienced a moderate swell of about 15 feet, which is a somewhat calm day on the Drake, we did not encounter the rogue wave.

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Rogue wave kills navigation system on cruise ship with nearly 400 on board as deadly storm hammers northern Europe - CBS News

Rogue wave kills navigation system on cruise ship with nearly 400 on board as deadly storm hammers northern Europe.

Posted: Fri, 22 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The MS Maud lost power after the wave hit as the ship was sailing toward Tilbury, England, from Florø, Norway, HX, a unit of Norway’s Hurtigruten Group, said in a statement. The passenger's leg required surgery, which led the ship's captain to turn back to Argentina. During the trip back toward Argentina, through a known turbulent stretch of ocean, was when the "rogue wave" crashed into the cruise ship. On Nov. 29, a suspected rogue wave slammed into the brand-new luxury expedition ship Viking Polaris on the Drake Passage, the infamously rough body of water separating South America and Antarctica. The wall of water blew out windows to cabins, unfortunately killing one passenger and injuring four others. Such freak accidents may seem rare, but hundreds have occurred without warning around the world — on cruise ships, cargo vessels, oil platforms and beaches.

thoughts on “What Happens If A Cruise Ship Is Hit By A Rogue Wave?”

rogue waves cruise ships

But, that doesn’t line up with all of the examples – there seem to be multiple causes. Rogue waves are technically defined as “waves that are at least twice the significant wave height”. 1978 The German merchant navy supertanker MS München disappears in the stormy North Atlantic en route from Bremerhaven to Savannah, Georgia, leaving only a scattering of life rafts and emergency buoys. Lawrence added that while in their muster stations, passengers were given "survival suits" — or suits that "dramatically extend survival times" with insulation, per the Coast Guard. He studied marine biology at the University of Exeter before training to become a journalist.

While research is still being carried out into their cause, it’s believed to be a combination of high winds and strong currents causing smaller waves to merge. 1884 A rogue wave off West Africa sinks the Mignonette, a yacht sailing from England to Australia. After 19 days adrift, the captain kills the teenage cabin boy to provide food for the other three survivors. "At this time, the ship has confirmed that no serious passenger or crew injuries have been sustained as a result of the incident and the condition of the ship remains stable," the statement said. On Dec. 2, a passenger onboard another cruise ship in the Drake Passage shared a video of another massive, but less destructive, wave on Twitter.

Cruise ships have been hit by rogue waves in the past, but it is not a common event. Since official records of rogue waves began in 1995, seven cruise ships have hit rogue waves. All suffered damage, some reported injuries, and one passenger sadly died onboard the Viking Polaris in December 2022. There have been five recorded instances of a rogue wave hitting cruise ships or passengers carrying ocean liners (QE2). There were no reported casualties, and all five ships survived to sail for many more years after.

Tom Trusdale said he and another passenger were able to quickly pull the man back on the boat, but the woman's leg was severely injured. "At the time that it happened, we personally wondered if, you know, we knew that we weren't by any icebergs, but it's like, did we hit an iceberg? It just was so sudden." Rogue waves are known to occur in the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, and the southeast coast of South Africa. Pay close attention to listening out for any instructions from the captain over the loudspeakers.

During this event, minor damage was inflicted on the platform, confirming that the reading was valid. While rogue waves are an interesting topic, the chance of one hitting a cruise ship is so remote it’s not something to be of concern. Unlike rogue waves, tsunamis can be barely noticeable on the surfaces of the seas. This makes them no threat to ships out at sea but can cause devastation to coastal areas as the waves increase in size as they come ashore. The size of the rogue wave would have to be more than ft and hit the cruise at precisely the right angle.

One confirmed rogue wave incident occurred with the R/V Ballena, a 56-foot research vessel that capsized in 2000 and then broke apart against the rocky shore. Scientists often refer to rogue waves as extreme storm waves that surge out of nowhere, often in an unpredictable direction, and can look like a steep wall of water, up to twice the size of surrounding waves. But rogue waves are taken seriously by naval architects and voyage planners. The Hapag-Lloyd LASH carrier München was lost in December 1978, and rogue waves were suspected there. Hopefully, this is a question we will never see answered in real life., and good luck.

Further below, we have a video with footage the students filmed while in the ship after being hit by the freak wave. The ship, which at the time had a capacity of 835, was struck by a freak wave in Cape Horn, Chile. Approximately 40 people were injured, with some requiring hospitalization. A 62-year-old passenger has died after sustaining injuries from the broken glass. The causes of rogue waves are still largely unknown, but scientists believe they are caused by a combination of factors.

It happened near Cape Horn and resulted in around 40 injuries to passengers. The only way that a cruise ship would be able to be flipped over is if it took the wave hit perpendicular on the port or starboard side, along the beam. "We are investigating the facts surrounding this incident and will offer our support to the relevant authorities," the company said. "Our focus remains on the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew, and we are working directly with them to arrange return travel." Reuters reported that the ship was being towed to Bremerhafen in Germany after the power outage. A spokesperson for the Danish Joint Rescue Coordination Centre told the news agency that a ship from civil rescue firm Esvagt had managed to connect a tow line to the MS Maud.

For example, if a low-pressure system moved across the ocean with high winds. The long fetch of water will create large swells which can combine to form a rogue wave. One theory is that rogue waves are created when two different ocean swells combine to create a larger wave. This can happen when two weather systems with different wind speeds and directions interact.

By the end, I’m sure that you’ll have no fears about rogue waves on your cruise holiday. These rare killer waves were once seen as a myth reported by mariners or explorers. The polar explorer Ernest Shackleton wrote in his book of a "gigantic" freak wave he encountered in Antarctica in 1916. The ship suffered minor damage and was anchored off Ushuaia, 3,200 kilometers (nearly 2,000 miles) from the capital Buenos Aires, with several windows smashed on the side, AFP journalists reported. There were no serious injuries among guests or crew members aboard the MS Maud vessel, operated by HX, formerly Hurtigruten Expeditions. The ship was on its way from Florø, Norway, to Tilbury, England, at the time, according to a spokesperson.

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