A rogue wave hit a new Polar Class ocean liner on Tuesday off the southern tip of South America, killing one passenger and injuring four more.
A passenger said the impact with the wave was so strong that she wondered if the ship had hit an iceberg. Suzie Gooding, the passenger, told WRAL News in Raleigh, North Carolina, “Everything was fine until the rogue wave hit, and it was sudden, shocking. We didn’t know if we should get our gear ready for abandoning ship.”
The ship, the Viking Polaris, had been on an Antarctic cruise and was sailing back to Ushuaia, Argentina, when the wave hit at 10:40 p.m. It smashed some windows in lower-level cabins and broke some glass. Viking Cruises said the person who died was an American woman.
The Argentina news agency Telam said the American who was killed “received blows from a glass surface that collapsed in the middle of the storm.”
The ship was one of two expedition ships built “to explore the world’s most remote regions,” according to its website. They were built at Fincantiere’s VARD yard in Norway. The first, the Viking Ocantis, was delivered last Dec. 21. The Viking Polaris was just delivered in December. It is 665 feet long with a 77-beam; it holds 378 guests and 256 crew.
The Drake Passage, between Cape Horn and Antarctica, the area where the Viking Polaris was cruising, is known for its extreme weather conditions. The Ocean Service, part of NOAA, says that rogue waves can seem to be “walls of water” that are “very unpredictable” and are greater than twice the size of surrounding waves. They are often steep sided with unusually deep troughs.
The Ocean Service says that when storm waves develop in a current running against the normal wave direction, “an interaction can take place which results in a shortening of the wave frequency This can cause the waves to dynamically join together, forming very big ‘rogue’ waves.”
Reporting the accident, Viking Cruises said “It is with great sadness that we confirmed a guest passed away following the incident.” It said that “Four other guests sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the incident and were treated by the ship’s onboard doctor and medical staff.” Read more:
