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Hurtigruten told the outlet in a statement that no serious injuries resulted from the rogue wave. 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. Such freak accidents may seem rare, but hundreds have occurred without warning around the world — on cruise ships, cargo vessels, oil platforms and beaches. "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. Rogue waves are unpredictable, typically twice the size of surrounding waves and often come from a different direction than the surrounding wind and waves, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Cruises Are All Fun And Exciting Until Your Ship Gets Hit By a Massive Rogue Wave And Loses Power Like This One ... - Barstool Sports
Cruises Are All Fun And Exciting Until Your Ship Gets Hit By a Massive Rogue Wave And Loses Power Like This One ....
Posted: Fri, 22 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Has a Rogue Wave Ever Hit a Cruise Ship? (Can it Survive?)
Rogue waves aren’t just found in rough seas, they have also been known to occur in relatively calm sea conditions. Rogue waves are defined as waves that are at least two times the significant wave height of the area. Four other tourists "sustained non-life-threatening injuries" and were treated onboard, the cruise line said.
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The significant wave height is the average of the largest third of waves within a particular wave record. Put simply, rogue waves are twice as large as the average of the largest waves in a particular area. A rogue wave is a wave that appears suddenly on the surface and is unusually large for that part of the ocean. 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. The MS Maud isn't the first ship to encounter rough seas in the North Sea — dramatic videos of huge waves crashing in the area have become a source of fascination on TikTok.
MORE: 'Rogue wave' strikes Antarctic cruise ship, leaves 1 dead and 4 injured
The storm also brought down trees and prompting warnings of flooding on the North Sea coast. A woman in Belgium was fatally injured by a falling Christmas tree, while another tree killed a person in the Netherlands. "The situation is stable, the ship has propulsion and they are able to navigate the ship manually via emergency systems," the Danish Joint Rescue Coordination Centre said in a statement Friday local time. Spiker's cousin, Suzie Gooding, of North Carolina, told ABC News that at the time, the ship was going through the Drake Passage, "which is well-known for having turbulent seas." The ship took an almighty hit over the bow and subsequent hits by two more large waves.
What Would Happen if a Rogue Wave Hit a Large Cruise Ship?
Rogue, or extreme storm, waves are "greater than twice the size of surrounding waves" and are "very unpredictable," according to the National Ocean Service. However, as we covered above, one of Holland America’s cruise ships, the MS Prinsendam, was hit in 2007. A huge rogue wave has hit a passenger ocean liner (Queen Elizabeth 2), which came away relatively unscathed. Further below, we have a video with footage the students filmed while in the ship after being hit by the freak wave. In September of 1995, the Cunard line Queen Elizabeth 2 ocean liner was hit by an estimated 92 to 96-foot high rogue wave caused by Hurricane Luis while crossing North Atlantic Ocean.
As a passenger on a cruise ship potentially being hit by a rogue wave, the safest place to be would be your stateroom, this will help protect you from being thrown around or hit by flying debris, falling decor, or sliding furniture. However, there have been no recorded cases of a rogue wave sinking a cruise ship. There are many accounts of ships going missing in the past without a trace, and it’s possible that some of these were due to rogue waves. While rogue waves are undoubtedly responsible for the sinking of smaller ships over the years, it’s very hard to know for certain if a rogue wave was the cause in many cases.
If a rogue wave is seen on the coastline, they are sometimes called a “sneaker wave” or a “king wave” in Australia. 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. It reached the 10th deck of the ship, breaking two windows (caused by balcony railings breaking free) and flooding over 60 cabins, along with some public areas.
Deadly 'rogue wave' smashes into cruise ship near Antarctica — but where did it come from?
Even then, it’s possible the ship would remain afloat as they are designed to do so. The design of the cruise ships keeps them afloat in the roughest of seas would see them through, although a rogue wave far exceeds the usual expectations a cruise ship is expected to encounter. Many people wonder what would happen if a cruise ship was hit by one of the largest ever rogue waves. The freak wave hit the ship in the early hours, 200 miles off Newfoundland, as it was carrying almost 3000 passengers. The cruise captain had previously requested all passengers stay in their quarters due to the hurricane conditions, and many would have been in their beds. Given that we have highlighted rogue waves can reach 100ft, it is entirely plausible that a rogue wave could capsize or sink a cruise ship, although the likelihood of this happening is extremely small.
The Ucluelet wave is regarded as the most extreme rogue wave because it was around three times higher than surrounding waves, while the Draupner wave was only around twice as tall compared with the surrounding sea state. A Norwegian cruise ship lost the ability to navigate after a rogue wave crashed into it Thursday, the cruise company HX said. This means that cruise ships can avoid ocean areas where rogue waves are more likely to occur.
Lawrence told BI that while she probably won't head to the North Sea in the winter again, she would still cruise with HX in the future. Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. A similar incident occurred on Viking Polaris last year, killing one passenger and injuring four others. The Viking Polaris’ next departure, the Antarctic Explorer cruise scheduled for Dec. 5-17, was canceled due to the incident. Streets around harbors flooded overnight in some Dutch North Sea towns including Scheveningen, the seaside suburb of The Hague. Tom Trusdale said he saw two passengers tossed into the air from what seemed to be an apparent explosion.
Most ships that have encountered a rogue wave have survived with minimal damage. There have been some incidents where ships are lost to rogue waves, but with cruise ships these are very minimal. A rogue wave could sink a ship, although most modern cruise ships are big enough to withstand the majority of smaller rogue waves, though not without damage. Smaller ships are more at risk, but they are also more manoeuvrable so would stand a higher chance of being able to navigate out of the wave’s path. The ship, operated by HX, a cruise company owned by Norway's Hurtigruten Group, was about 120 miles from Denmark's west coast when the wave struck, Reuters reported. The wave's force shattered some of the ship's windows and caused it to tilt "pretty violently," passenger Elizabeth Lawrence told Business Insider.
Rogue waves are intimidating if you’re on a small boat, but cruise passengers shouldn’t worry too much, especially on larger cruise ships. The 62-year-old passenger sadly died as a result of being hit by broken glass when the wave smashed a window in her cabin during the storm. The other injured passengers suffered injuries that were not life-threatening. That doesn’t mean that a rogue wave would leave a cruise ship completely untouched. There’s likely going to be some damage, depending on the height of the wave. But, she wouldn’t flip, and passengers would be generally safe, most of the time.
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