Freak Wave

[Cookiely]

Could the low have caused this freak wave?
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/04/17/ship.d ... index.html
I would have been terrified.

[cycloneye]

Could the low have caused this freak wave?
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/04/17/ship.d ... index.html
I would have been terrified.

Yes that low pressure that we were talking about last week off the Carolinas at one point had wind gusts of 40-50 mph and lifted those swells and it was the cause of what happened at that cruise ship.

[Javlin]

That is wild!Posiedon Adventure anyone.

[Wpwxguy]

Unbelievable!! Reports were that it was estimated at 70 ft. I'm sure the laundry was quite busy after that. LOL! One witness said that they were playing the theme to Titanic on the piano afterwards. I'm sure those people were horrified.

[msbee]

2 jacuzzis on deck were completely ripped out into the sea, never to be seen again
amazing!
what I don't get is why the ship was even in those waters. surely all their weather equipment gave them the necessary info to know that those seas were wild.
the passengers said they had 10-12 hours of rough seas with 20-30 foot waves before that freak wave accident occurrred.
that is ridiculous that the cruise ship line ventured into those waters!
what? just to make their home port and the next trip so they wouldn't lose revenue?

[MGC]

This was a rogue wave. They are nearly impossibe to predict. No way that ship would have sailed into seas that high. They are lucky they incountered the wave at night when few people were on deck....MGC

[cycloneye]

This was a rogue wave. They are nearly impossibe to predict. No way that ship would have sailed into seas that high. They are lucky they incountered the wave at night when few people were on deck....MGC

However they have to know that there was an intense gale low in the Western Atlantic as those cruise ships in this new century now have plenty of weather guidance such as the internet or from their radars or even they have a weather person who tells the captain if there is trouble upstream.

[Anonymous]

This was a rogue wave. They are nearly impossibe to predict. No way that ship would have sailed into seas that high. They are lucky they incountered the wave at night when few people were on deck....MGC

I agree--that was a freak wave--no met could have predicted this. Just count their blessings it happened at nite. There is no possible guidance that will see one lone 70ft wave IMHO. I could be wrong but I think the captain did nothing wrong in this.

[x-y-no]

This was a rogue wave. They are nearly impossibe to predict. No way that ship would have sailed into seas that high. They are lucky they incountered the wave at night when few people were on deck....MGC

I agree--that was a freak wave--no met could have predicted this. Just count their blessings it happened at nite. There is no possible guidance that will see one lone 70ft wave IMHO. I could be wrong but I think the captain did nothing wrong in this.

Well ... yes and no ...

Certainly nobody can predict a rogue wave. OTOH, they did know they were sailing into rough conditions with 30+ foot waves. If this had been mid-cruise, I have no doubt they would have diverted to a different port to avoid such conditions. But because this was the end of the cruise, they chose to take their chances so they wouldn't miss the next start. Whether that was a wise decision is pretty questionable, IMHO.

[Anonymous]

This was a rogue wave. They are nearly impossibe to predict. No way that ship would have sailed into seas that high. They are lucky they incountered the wave at night when few people were on deck....MGC

I agree--that was a freak wave--no met could have predicted this. Just count their blessings it happened at nite. There is no possible guidance that will see one lone 70ft wave IMHO. I could be wrong but I think the captain did nothing wrong in this.

Well ... yes and no ...

Certainly nobody can predict a rogue wave. OTOH, they did know they were sailing into rough conditions with 30+ foot waves. If this had been mid-cruise, I have no doubt they would have diverted to a different port to avoid such conditions. But because this was the end of the cruise, they chose to take their chances so they wouldn't miss the next start. Whether that was a wise decision is pretty questionable, IMHO.

Rough conditions... I am sure they expected this. I think the decision has been made time and time again to go through a storm like this like it is nothing-It was just a freak wave-Now a hurricane would be something totally different. You also have to consider the fact that you would be stranding every body onboard if you returned to lets say Cape Canaveral fla instead of Charleston, SC. Unless the company was willing to pay for everybodys return another way

[furluvcats]

And these companies clearly state that in case of an emergency such as this, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for your own transportation back to the port your car is at, unless you have cruise insurance.

These ships are mega stabalized and very high tech and can withstand the seas they knew they were going into...I think the 70 ft wave was totally freak and unavoidable...

On my cruise earlier this month, we hit heavy seas, it rocked more than any ship I've been on, and we diverted our path somewhat to avoid some heavier seas...but as someone stated earlier, we were just begining our cruise at the time of the high seas...

They do have a bottom line, of when they need to get back to port to avaoid losing revenue, for sure...but they are also very careful...2 times the ship I've been on has stayed out at sea an extra day and half day, due to heavy fog, and weather...so, they erred on the side of caution, instead of revenue...

These ship captains know what they're doing...freak incidents are going to happen from time to time...

[george_r_1961]

Freak waves will continue to surprise ships at sea. The strength of the wind along with the fetch (the distance over which the wind blows from a given direction over the water) and even the contour of the ocean floor come into play here. Lots of variables.

[USCG_Hurricane_Watcher]

This was a rogue wave. They are nearly impossibe to predict. No way that ship would have sailed into seas that high. They are lucky they incountered the wave at night when few people were on deck....MGC

I agree--that was a freak wave--no met could have predicted this. Just count their blessings it happened at nite. There is no possible guidance that will see one lone 70ft wave IMHO. I could be wrong but I think the captain did nothing wrong in this.

Well ... yes and no ...

Certainly nobody can predict a rogue wave. OTOH, they did know they were sailing into rough conditions with 30+ foot waves. If this had been mid-cruise, I have no doubt they would have diverted to a different port to avoid such conditions. But because this was the end of the cruise, they chose to take their chances so they wouldn't miss the next start. Whether that was a wise decision is pretty questionable, IMHO.

Ok...965ft vessel with a 105ft beam, displacement hull, port/stbd stabilizing fins...30ft is nothing...and we haven't even looked at liquid load/ballast. Sure, it's not exactly FAC offshore, but making the run up north you've got to expect that. It happens more than CNN reports it - just not always happening to cruise ships. Don't get me wrong, 70ft rogue waves can definitely ruin a weekend getaway, but those ships are designed for that - the "100 year wave" threshold. Thank God everyone's ok...That's a large search area...