Norwegian cruise ship loses ability to navigate after rogue wave hits

Table Of Content

• Norwegian cruise ship loses ability to navigate after rogue wave hits
• A rogue wave caused a cruise ship tragedy. They occur more often than you think.
• Deadly 'rogue wave' smashes into cruise ship near Antarctica — but where did it come from?
• Known or suspected rogue wave incidents
• Animals may help ecosystems store 3 times more carbon than we thought
• ABC News

It will not be too noticeable out at sea because it’s just a raised water level – it doesn’t cause single large waves to form. Sometimes, rogue waves can be confused for tsunamis or tidal waves, but in name only. Because of the ongoing research into the causes of rogue waves, and their formal documentation being relatively recent, it’s hard to say where they occur the most frequently. 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.

Norwegian cruise ship loses ability to navigate after rogue wave hits

Terrifying videos show Norwegian cruise ship rocked by massive waves ahead of power outage that knocked out navigation - New York Post

Terrifying videos show Norwegian cruise ship rocked by massive waves ahead of power outage that knocked out navigation.

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

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. You can see a video of the aftermath and an example in our post of how a cruise ship does not tip over. Let’s just say even the aftermath was a scary experience, let alone being hit by the freak wave. Another theory is that rogue waves can be created due to strong winds blowing over a long fetch of water.

A rogue wave caused a cruise ship tragedy. They occur more often than you think.

One of them was the Great Lakes freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald which is thought to have been hit by a rogues wave on Lake Superior, one of the more expensive Lakes cruises. Although thankfully, not caused any cruise ships to sink on the Great lakes. While it’s very unlikely a rogue wave will hit a cruise ship, if one did, the chances are that the ship would survive as has been the case in the real-life examples we covered above. On the 26th of January 2005, the cruise ship MV Explorer, part of the Semester at Sea program, was hit by a 50ft rogue wave that smashed windows on the bridge, shorted navigational systems, and resulted in two engines failing. The freak wave hit the ship in the early hours, 200 miles off Newfoundland, as it was carrying almost 3000 passengers.

Cruise passenger describes moment rogue wave struck their ship - Business Insider

Cruise passenger describes moment rogue wave struck their ship.

Posted: Sat, 23 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Deadly 'rogue wave' smashes into cruise ship near Antarctica — but where did it come from?

"This wave hit it and came over and literally broke through windows and just washed into these rooms, and not only did it wash into the rooms, but it broke walls down, and once some walls went into the next room," Tom Trusdale said. The Trusdales were passengers on the Viking Polaris cruise ship last week. Four other guests sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the incident and were treated by the ship's doctor and medical staff, Viking said. A rogue wave is a one-off, large ocean wave that is not caused by an earthquake like a tsunami. Cruise ships come in all sizes, from carrying just a few hundred passengers to those that can accommodate over 6,000 guests.

"We are investigating the facts surrounding this incident and will offer our support to the relevant authorities," Viking said in a statement Thursday. The only ship was in November 2000 when a 56ft research vessel, the R/V Ballena, was struck by a rogue wave near Point Conception off Santa Barbara, California. Any cruise ships in ports or harbors would be at risk of being damaged in the path of a tsunami reaching land.

One passenger posted a video on Facebook showing the view from her room's window Thursday with the cruise ship bobbing up and down and creaking in the throes of high waves. Viking said in a statement on its website that it's investigating the wave incident and is committed to the safety and security of all guests and crew. However, as we covered above, one of Holland America’s cruise ships, the MS Prinsendam, was hit in 2007. Cruise ships typically encounter waves of 10 to 15ft without most passengers barely realizing it. A  huge rogue wave has hit a passenger ocean liner (Queen Elizabeth 2), which came away relatively unscathed.

"It was going real smoothly, and we were only anticipating nothing but smooth going forward," Tom Trusdale told ABC News. Tom and Pam Trusdale were enjoying a bucket list trip to Antarctica, until their trip of a lifetime turned into a deadly disaster. "Luckily, our windows did hold," she added, though said other rooms on their side of the ship were "washed out."

This list of rogue waves compiles incidents of known and likely rogue waves – also known as freak waves, monster waves, killer waves, and extreme waves. Three of the other instances of rogue waves also happened in the South Atlantic and also involved small cruise ships. Both the Caledonian Star and the MS Bremen were hit by rogue waves in 2001.

Has a Rogue Wave hit a Cruise Ship?

A frequent inquiry we ran across in our research was “How big is a rogue wave? 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. There were a handful of injuries and the ship was able to sail to port without any further trouble for repairs to be made. If you’re nervous about cruising, then the knowledge that these mammoth waves exist might put you off.

With 15 feet waves, you’re going to want to tap into any techniques you have for handling your sickness. That means that rogue waves might not always be the absolute tallest waves in the ocean, but they will be unusually large for the area and state of the sea at that time. 1909 The steamship SS Waratah disappears without trace with over 200 people on board off the coast of South Africa – a swathe of sea now known for its high incidence of rogue waves. The MS Maud, a Norwegian cruise ship, lost its ability to navigate after a rogue wave knocked out its power on Thursday. In 2019, a study published in the journal Scientific Reports predicted that rogue waves could become less frequent but more extreme in the future due to the effects of human-caused climate change. "This wave hit and came over and literally broke through windows and just washed into these rooms," Tom Trusdale, a passenger aboard the Viking Polaris when the incident happened, told ABC News.

Yes, the largest waves may cause some damage, and potentially some injuries due to broken glass. But they’re such a freak occurrence that passengers need not let that rule their head – millions of passengers enjoy a cruise each year without incident. The height of some cruise ships does mean they’re more prone to listing, but to actually capsize one would be an exceptionally rare event. Remember that these are only since the official records of rogue waves began. It’s widely accepted that the Queen Mary was hit by a rogue wave in 1942 and that she suffered a lot of damage, and listed heavily. The third South-Atlantic incident occurred in March 2007 when the MS Prisendam was hit by two 40-feet waves in a row.

Tsunamis are often caused by the movement of land, usually an ocean floor, that leads to a massive displacement of water and causes the seas to move at high speeds over a large area. The pressure from the rogue wave could also cause severe damage to any windows and external features of the ship. It’s quite possible more rogue ways have reached more than 100 ft in size but the odds of them ever being in the vicinity of a cruise ship are very low. A rogue wave that was big enough potentially could do it, so while there are never any guarantees, it would be a true freak incident if one ever was to capsize due to a rogue wave.

2001 Just days apart, two cruise ships – the Bremen and the Caledonian Star – have their bridge windows smashed by waves estimated to be 30 metres tall in the South Atlantic. Rogue waves, or extreme storm waves, are uncommon, unpredictable and "greater than twice the size of surrounding waves," according to the National Ocean Service. The Trusdales were passengers on the Viking Polaris cruise ship sailing toward Ushuaia, Argentina, when it was hit by a "rogue wave" last week, killing an American passenger, Sheri Zhu, and injuring four others. For what it's worth—though this is no consolation to the loved ones of the deceased—cruising is one of the safest modes of transportation.

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. Although it’s worth noting, this is pure fiction, and the size of the rogue wave is highly exaggerated in relation to the size of the ship. Many people wonder what would happen if a cruise ship was hit by one of the largest ever rogue waves.

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. Although not technically cruise ships, ocean liners like the Titanic was, are built even more robustly to cope with the roughest seas on transatlantic crossings. In 2007 the Holland America cruise ship MS Prinsendam (now MS Amera) was hit by a rogue wave estimated to be 39ft high. Rogue waves can be extremely dangerous for small and large vessels such as cruise ships and even oil rigs. And some rogue waves are extremely powerful and could cause severe enough damage to lead to the sinking of a ship, but again it would be exceptionally rare. Both ships suffered smashed windows on the bridge, along with losses to power and navigation controls.

The safety of passengers is always the priority of a cruise line, which is why only highly experienced crew are hired who know exactly what to do in any situation, even one as rare as a rogue wave. In another instance, NCL’s Norwegian Dawn was hit by three freak waves off the coast of Georgia in 2005, one of which was around 70 feet tall. If a huge rogue wave was to break on a cruise ship, it could be a very severe incident. In the 21st century, there have been recorded rogue waves in the Gulf of Mexico, the northern Pacific, the Mediterranean near Catalonia, and off the coast of Newfoundland in Canada. Hurtigruten told the outlet in a statement that no serious injuries resulted from the rogue wave. Rogue, or extreme storm, waves are "greater than twice the size of surrounding waves" and are "very unpredictable," according to the National Ocean Service.