"Rogue wave" kills American woman, injures four others on Antarctic cruise ship

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• More from CBS News
• Deadly 'rogue wave' smashes into cruise ship near Antarctica — but where did it come from?
• 'Rogue wave' strikes Antarctic cruise ship, leaves 1 dead and 4 injured
• Rogue Wave Strikes Cruise Ship, Killing a Passenger and Injuring 4 Others
• ABC News
• 'Rogue wave' hits Viking cruise ship, killing 1 passenger and injuring 4 others

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. "We are investigating the facts surrounding this incident and will offer our support to the relevant authorities," the company said. Passengers onboard the Viking Polaris cruise ship that was hit by a "rogue wave" during a voyage to Antartica, killing an American woman, are now speaking out, saying a "wall of seawater" came onto the vessel.

More from CBS News

"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. 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. 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. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, rogue waves can be double the size of surrounding waves. They often come unexpectedly from directions other than that of the prevailing wind.

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

Cruise Ship Is Being Towed After Rogue Wave Struck - Newser

Cruise Ship Is Being Towed After Rogue Wave Struck.

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

However, Argentine news agency Telam said the dead passenger was an American woman who "received blows from a glass surface that collapsed in the middle of the storm". "We wondered if we hit an iceberg," Suzie Gooding, a passenger from North Carolina, told WRAL-TV. The Viking Polaris had been heading toward the Argentinian port city of Ushuaia en route to a cruise of Antarctica. The ship was able to arrive in port without further incident, but Viking said the Antarctic portion of the itinerary would be canceled.

'Rogue wave' strikes Antarctic cruise ship, leaves 1 dead and 4 injured

One passenger was killed and four more injured after a "rogue wave" hit a cruise ship bound for Antarctica, travel company Viking has said. 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. "Rogues, called 'extreme storm waves' by scientists, are those waves which are greater than twice the size of surrounding waves, are very unpredictable, and often come unexpectedly from directions other than prevailing wind and waves," the agency explains. One person died and four others were injured after a giant "rogue wave" hit an Antarctica-bound cruise ship, travel company Viking said. 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 rogue wave shattered windows on the ship's bridge, which caused water to enter the vessel and resulted in a power outage, Reuters reported.

The wave's force shattered some of the ship's windows and caused it to tilt "pretty violently," passenger Elizabeth Lawrence told Business Insider. The Norwegian cruise ship MS Maud temporarily lost power on Thursday after encountering the rogue wave. 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.

On Thursday, high winds also grounded flights in parts of the U.K., suspended train services and stopped Scottish ferries. Tom Trusdale said he saw two passengers tossed into the air from what seemed to be an apparent explosion. He studied marine biology at the University of Exeter before training to become a journalist.

ABC News

During the trip back toward Argentina, through a known turbulent stretch of ocean, was when the "rogue wave" crashed into the cruise ship. "At this time, the ship has confirmed that no serious passenger or crew injuries have been sustained as a result of the incident and the condition of the ship remains stable," the statement said. Hurtigruten told the outlet in a statement that no serious injuries resulted from the rogue wave. Reuters reported that the ship was being towed to Bremerhafen in Germany after the power outage. A spokesperson for the Danish Joint Rescue Coordination Centre told the news agency that a ship from civil rescue firm Esvagt had managed to connect a tow line to the MS Maud.

'Rogue wave' hits Viking cruise ship, killing 1 passenger and injuring 4 others

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. A North Carolina couple aboard the ship told NBC affiliate WRAL that they thought "we hit an iceberg" when the wave crashed into the cruise ship. Rogue waves are freak waves that are at least twice as high as the surrounding sea state — the average height of the waves for a given area at a given time, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The massive walls of water come from seemingly out of nowhere and without warning. The ship "sustained limited damage during the incident" and arrived in Ushuaia Wednesday afternoon, Viking said in its statement.

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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. A State Department official said that a U.S. citizen died and that the department was offering consular assistance to the person’s family. The Viking Polaris ship's next departure for the Antarctic, scheduled for Dec. 5, has been canceled "after careful consideration," the cruise line said. "No matter what side of the boat you're on, it was felt throughout the ship that clearly something bad had happened," she said. Passengers on board the ship described choppy conditions leading up to the incident.

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. A Norwegian cruise ship lost the ability to navigate after a rogue wave crashed into it Thursday, the cruise company HX said. "It is with great sadness that we confirmed a guest passed away following the incident," Viking Cruises said in a statement. The MS Maud, a Norwegian cruise ship, lost its ability to navigate after a rogue wave knocked out its power on Thursday. The passenger's leg required surgery, which led the ship's captain to turn back to Argentina.

"Our focus remains on the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew, and we are working directly with them to arrange return travel," the company added in a statement issued on Friday. "Following a detailed diagnosis by the ship's medical team, the decision was taken for the ship to immediately sail to Ushuaia so that the guest could receive additional medical care from a shore-based hospital," it continued. Viking called it a “rogue wave incident” and said the four other passengers' injuries were non-life threatening. Viking called it a “rogue wave incident” and said the four other passengers’ injuries were non-life threatening. Rogue waves, which scientists call "extreme storm waves," are more than twice the size of surrounding waves, the NOAA says, and often come from different directions than that of the already-existing waves and wind. Viking said the company's "focus remains on the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew" and that they were working to arrange return travel for those impacted by the trip.

It is currently unclear if the wave that hit the Viking Polaris qualifies as an official rogue wave because there is no accurate data on the wave height or the surrounding sea state. A storm was raging when the wave hit, CNN reported, which could have provided the necessary conditions for a rogue wave to form. 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. "We are investigating the facts surrounding this incident and will offer our support to the relevant authorities," Viking said in a statement Thursday. "Our focus remains on the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew, and we are working directly with them to arrange return travel." One woman was killed and at least four more were injured when a colossal rogue wave struck a cruise ship off the coast of Argentina last week.

Lawrence, who had picked the cruise to see the Northern Lights, said the day started out with fairly big waves but that the captain had let passengers know to expect that. But as the day went on, the waves got bigger until they were large enough to spray her window on the sixth deck, she said. According to Viking's website, the Viking Polaris is a 665-foot-long cruise ship that was built in 2022. Viking Cruises did not say how the passenger was killed or provide the passenger’s name. The four passengers who were injured were treated by onboard medical staff and had non-life-threatening injuries, Viking Cruises said. Four other guests sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the incident and were treated by the ship's doctor and medical staff, Viking said.

Norwegian cruise ship loses power after damage from ‘rogue wave’ - TODAY

Norwegian cruise ship loses power after damage from ‘rogue wave’.

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

A U.S. woman died and four other passengers were injured when a massive wave smashed into an Antarctic cruise ship during a storm as it sailed off the southernmost tip of South America, officials said Friday. The 62-year-old woman was hit by broken glass when the wave broke cabin windows late Tuesday, Argentine authorities said. The 62-year-old woman was hit by broken glass when the wave broke cabin windows late Tuesday during a storm, Argentine authorities said. The ship suffered limited damage and arrived in Ushuaia, 1,926 miles (3100 kilometres) south of Buenos Aires, the next day.

National railway operator Deutsche Bahn said Friday there were cancellations on routes from Hamburg and Hannover to Frankfurt and Munich, while long-distance services from Hamburg northward to Kiel and Flensburg weren't running, among other disruptions. "An Esvagt ship is towing it slowly towards Bremerhafen in Germany at around 8-9 knots," the spokesperson told Reuters. Danish Search and Rescue said the vessel could "maneuver via emergency systems, and it has two civilian support vessels close by." Tom Trusdale said he and another passenger were able to quickly pull the man back on the boat, but the woman's leg was severely injured.

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. 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. 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. The passengers were hurt after a large, unpredictable wave hit the ship, which was traveling toward the Antarctic, Viking Cruises said.