Cruise Passenger Describes Moment Rogue Wave Struck Their Ship

cruise ship hit by wave

Four other passengers sustained non-life-threatening injuries, Viking said. The ship, which belongs to cruise company HX, a unit of Norway’s Hurtigruten Group, left Floroe in Norway on Thursday and was due to arrive in Tilbury in the UK on Friday. The nation's water and infrastructure authority said that was also a first.

More from CBS News

If the captain thought so, he would have asked to be evacuated which he hasn’t,” the rescue centre spokesperson said. In Hamburg, the Elbe River flooded streets around the city's fish market, with water waist-high in places. German authorities warned of a storm surge of up to three meters (nearly 10 feet) or more above mean high tide on parts of the North Sea coast on Friday. A woman who was struck by a falling tree on Thursday in the eastern Dutch town of Wilp later died of her injuries, her employer said. Because of a lack of navigational abilities, the ship had to be steered manually from the engine room, per the news agency. None of the 266 passengers or 131 crew members were seriously injured, HX said.

Latest Weather News

The ship was on its way from Florø, Norway, to Tilbury, England, at the time, according to a spokesperson. "It is with great sadness that we confirmed a guest passed away following the incident," Viking said in the statement. "We have notified the guest's family and shared our deepest sympathies. We will continue to offer our full support to the family in the hours and days ahead." The main engine is functioning but the navigation systems and radars are not,” a spokesperson for the centre, which is responsible for coordinating search and rescue operations, said. Dorothy Hallam, a passenger on board, wrote on social media, "We've been sat on the floor in our muster stations for hours wearing our safety suits and life jackets and there's no sign of us being allowed up any time soon. We were thrown about a lot."

latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more

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. The death on the Viking Cruises ship this week comes after the death of two other cruise ship passengers in the Antarctic last month. Two Quark Expeditions cruise ship passengers died after one of the ship’s heavy duty inflatable Zodiac boats overturned near shore, Seatrade Cruise News reported. A passenger died and four others were injured after a large, unexpected wave hit a cruise ship traveling toward a popular launching point for expeditions to Antarctica, Viking Cruises said. One person died and four others were injured after a "rogue wave" hit the Viking Polaris cruise ship while it was sailing toward Ushuaia, Argentina, on Tuesday night, officials said. The ship is docked as passengers await further travel plans from Viking, according to Gooding, who said that two other ships in their bay in Ushuaia were also damaged, possibly by rogue waves.

The ship was currently being steered manually from the engine room but cannot navigate. Esvagt support vessels had arrived to help the ship navigate until the ship could be towed to port. "Our team are working to arrange onward travel back home for guests onboard," the statement added. Two civilian support vessels are aiding the ship in its journey to port, Danish rescue authorities said. "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.

The purple shows the path of the ship from Norway to 120 miles off the coast of Denmark. Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. The MS Maud’s on-board technology makes her “exceptionally well-suited” to trips through Norway and the British Isles, the company boasted. Every time we move we nearly go flying,” one passenger commented under Hansen’s post. But most of them are very brave and find it very interesting,” he wrote on Facebook. In recent years, some observers have warned that the increase in tourism may not be sustainable and that it could threaten visitor safety or disrupt the fragile environment, which is already straining under the effects of climate change.

“Following ongoing safety checks and technical assessments, given the weather conditions, we decided to amend the planned sailing route. Across the fleet, there are thorough operational protocols in place and we always prioritize the safety of those onboard,” HX said. 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.

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]

A similar incident occurred on Viking Polaris last year, killing one passenger and injuring four others. State Department confirmed to ABC News that the deceased was an American citizen. The department added that it was "offering all appropriate consular assistance" to the victim's family. The area was hit by a storm late on Thursday with hurricane-force gusts blowing from the north-west that were forecast to continue on Friday, the Danish Meteorological Institute said. A towage vessel from the civil rescue company Esvagt was scheduled to arrive at the ship around 2230 GMT. The 266 passengers and 131 crew members were safe, according to the Danish Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.

A 'rogue wave' hit a cruise ship, killing a passenger and injuring 4 more: 'We wondered if we hit an iceberg' - Yahoo Movies UK

A 'rogue wave' hit a cruise ship, killing a passenger and injuring 4 more: 'We wondered if we hit an iceberg'.

Posted: Sat, 13 Apr 2024 05:48:45 GMT [source]

Its operator, Hurtigruten Expedition, said in a statement that the 266 guests and 131 crew were uninjured and that the vessel, initially headed for the English port of Tilbury, would be diverted to Bremerhaven, Germany, for disembarkation. 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. The force of the massive wall of water sent passengers flying and smashed several exterior windows, which flooded some rooms and caused further structural damage inside. A 62-year-old American woman, Sheri Zhu, was killed by injuries sustained from the broken glass and four other people received non-life-threatening injuries, according to Australian news site ABC News. A Norwegian cruise ship with more than 250 passengers on board lost power on Thursday, Dec. 21, after the vessel encountered a rogue wave during a storm, the cruise company HX said.

cruise ship hit by wave

Then, passengers heard the alarm that meant they should head to their muster stations — the place on board where guests gather in case of an emergency. Rogue, or extreme storm, waves are "greater than twice the size of surrounding waves" and are "very unpredictable," according to the National Ocean Service. The ship sustained "limited damage" from the rogue wave and arrived in Ushuaia on Wednesday "without further incident," Viking said. The ship’s 266 passengers and 131 crew members were safe, Danish rescuers have confirmed. The ship’s condition “remains stable and the crew are able to sail under their own power,” they said in an emailed statement. There were no serious injuries among guests or crew members aboard the MS Maud vessel, operated by HX, formerly Hurtigruten Expeditions.

However, scientists have learned more about them in recent decades, studying how they emerge and how to predict the wall of water that can surge up even in calm seas. "No matter what side of the boat you're on, it was felt throughout the ship that clearly something bad had happened," she said. Tom and Pam Trusdale were enjoying a bucket list trip to Antarctica, until their trip of a lifetime turned into a deadly disaster. MS Maud was in the middle of the North Sea at the tail end of a 14-day cruise to see the Northern Lights when it was caught in a fierce storm on Thursday.

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 ship, traveling under its own power, is currently sailing to Bremerhaven, Germany, for disembarkation, HX said in an updated statement Friday. The ship was in the North Sea at the time, in an area hit by a storm late Thursday with hurricane-force gusts forecast to continue Friday, the Danish Meteorological Institute said according to Reuters.

An American passenger on an Antarctic cruise died and four other guests were injured after their Viking ship was struck by a "rogue wave," officials said. A possible rogue wave sent headlines around the world last week after it broke windows on a cruise ship off the coast of Argentina, killing a woman and injuring four others. The MS Maud sustained a temporary loss of power while sailing to Tilbury, England, from Florø, Norway, HX said in a statement to NBC News. No serious injuries were reported among the 266 passengers and 131 crew members, according to HX. The MS Maud, a Norwegian cruise ship, lost its ability to navigate after a rogue wave knocked out its power on Thursday.

The MS Maud, which is run by the cruise company HX, a unit of Norway’s Hurtigruten Group, left Floroe in Norway on Thursday and was scheduled to arrive in Tilbury in Great Britain on Friday. Tour operator Thorsten Hansen shared a video of the foamy waves battering the hull of the MS Maud, which made headlines Thursday when its electricity failed mid-voyage. The company says its main focus remains on the safety of its passengers ... Adding it's decided to cancel the Polaris' December 5 "Antarctic Explorer" voyage. These rare killer waves were once seen as a myth reported by mariners or explorers.

The Viking Polaris cruise ship was sailing toward Ushuaia in Argentina — the main starting point for expeditions to Antarctica — when there was "a rogue wave incident," a representative of the Viking cruise company said in a statement. The rogue wave shattered windows on the ship's bridge, which caused water to enter the vessel and resulted in a power outage, Reuters reported. "Spent 4 hours in survival suits and life vests while the Danish Coastguard and local oil rigs sent out rescue boats to escort us and provide navigation as the crew manually steered the boat from the engine room," one passenger wrote on Facebook.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Short Weekend Cruise Getaways Near You

La Manzanilla Vacation Rentals & Information Find the Perfect Rental