A woman from the United States died and four other passengers were injured when what was assumed to be a “rogue wave” hit a luxury cruise ship on the way back from Antarctica.
The Viking Polaris cruise ship was hit by a massive wave during a storm on Tuesday, November 29. The Viking Travel Company said the ship was traveling back to Ushuaia, Argentina, from Antarctica, when the wave struck.
The statement by Viking Cruises confirmed that one passenger had died following the incident and expressed their sympathies and condolences to the woman’s family.
Medical staff on the cruise ship treated four other passengers who got hurt and had non-life-threatening injuries. The deceased woman was not identified.
The ship sustained limited damage from the incident, and it docked in Ushuaia, almost 2,000 miles south of Buenos Aires, on Wednesday afternoon.
According to Argentine police, the 62-year-old deceased woman, was hit by broken glass when the wave broke cabin windows.
Suzie Gooding, a passenger on the ship, said that passengers onboard were shocked and worried they had hit an iceberg. Even though there are no icebergs in that part of the ocean, that’s how she said the wave felt when it hit the ship.
The Polaris cruise ship was in the Drake Passage, where the waters are known to be treacherous with rough seas and big waves. The Drake Passage is where the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans come together between the southern tip of Argentina and Antarctica.
The Viking company decided to cancel the next scheduled departure for the Viking Polaris, which was scheduled for December 5-17 for the Antarctic Explorer itinerary.
The Viking Polaris is a 665-foot-long ship built in 2022. It has the capacity to accommodate over 600 people, including 378 passengers and 256 crew members.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) describes a rogue wave as a gigantic, unexpected wave that can be dangerous. According to the website, scientists call rogue waves “extreme storm waves,” which can be more than twice the size of regular waves. They also hit from a different direction than the wind and already existing waves.
The NOAA says that the “killer waves” can be very unpredictable and look very frightening, and appear to be like steep walls of water. According to the agency, rogue waves are rare and not fully understood.
Although rare, hundreds of rogue waves have been encountered around the world, on cruise ships, cargo vessels, oil platforms and beaches. Over 400 similar incidents were documented around the world between 2005 and 2021 in a catalog kept on the Russian Academy of Science’s Institute of Applied Physics website.