26-foot wave strikes cruise ship, killing 2

AP via MSNBC.com ^ | 03/03/10 | Staff

[OldDeckHand]

ATHENS, Greece - A 26-foot wave crashed into a cruise ship carrying nearly 2,000 people off the coast of France, smashing windshields and killing two people, Greek and Cypriot said Wednesday.

A Greek coast guard statement says another six people suffered light injuries on board the Cypriot-owned Louis Majesty.

In a statement, the cruise line said its Maltese ship was hit by "abnormal waves."

[OldDeckHand]

Weird. Perhaps a rogue wave, as there's no foul weather reported.

[1raider1]

Chile’s fault.

[FlashBack]

Obamao blames George W Bush.....

[rockabyebaby]

tsunami rerouted from saturday’s event in chile

[hsalaw]

Global warming.

[Bobalu]

[EBH]

Left over tsunami affect.

Vibrations will continue for a while.

‘course it could be climate change.

[Onerom99]

Rogue waves should be one of the natural wonders of the world.

Read up on them once.. Absolutely fascinating stuff.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

[biggerten]

THE PERFECT WAVE
By: Shel Silverstein

Dave McGunn was a surfin’ bum, half–crazed by the blazin’ sun.
From Waikiki to the Bering Sea, he rode ’em one by one.
Now he hung offshore ’bout a mile or more, out where the dolphins played,
And his wild eyes gleamed as he schemed and dreamed
To ride the perfect wave.

Oh, ride the perfect wave, Dave, ride the perfect wave.
If you wait it out and you don’t sell out, you may ride
The perfect wave.

He crouched in the spray and he waited all day till the sun gave way to the moon,
And his legs grew cold and he grew old and wrinkled like a prune.
And the years rolled by and the surf broke high and the 40–foot breakers sprayed.
But he sneered at ’em all, sayin’, “Too damn small; I’m waitin’
For the perfect wave.”

He was sleepin’ on his board when he woke to a roar as thunder shook the sea.
’Twas the dreaded California quake of 1973.
And he stared at the reef in disbelief, then paddled with tremblin’ hands
As a monstrous crashin’ tidal wave came roarin’ ’cross the land.

It was 12 miles high and it filled the sky, the color of boilin’ blood.
And cities fell beneath its swell and mountains turned to mud.
Its deadly surf engulfed the earth and left not a thing alive.
And high on the tip with a smile on his lip was Davey hangin’ five.
He hit the top of the Golden Gate at a thousand miles an hour,
Over the top of the Empire State and the tip of the Eiffel Tower.
And as he wiped out, you could hear him shout as he plunged to a watery grave,
“Hey hi dee hi, I’m glad to die –– I’ve rode
The perfect wave.”

[Don Corleone]

If it ain’t Boeing I ain’t going!

[hennie pennie]

strange oddity

[WOBBLY BOB]

I saw that episode of Gilligan’s Island.

http://surfing.wikia.com/wiki/Big_Man_on_Little_Stick:_1965_episode_of_Gilligan’s_Island

[Ramius]

I’m not sure how a 26ft wave is going to reach glass “windshields” on that boat (whatever they mean by that). Even taken from abeam, a 26ft wave might give them a little roll, but it just doesn’t sound big enough to do much in the way of damage. I’m guessing there’s some part of the story that the reporter missed.

[JoeProBono]

Freak Wave

[andy58-in-nh]

I’ve never heard that one before, and I’ve always liked Shel Silverstein’s work. This one really caught my attention, because it’s almost a parody of one of my favorite poets of all time: Robert Service.

[dr_lew]

In other views of this ship you can see a row of windows right at deck level near the bow. The CNN report said that the deaths occurred in "a public area", and I think this must have been the "Royal Fireworks" lounge as seen on the Deck Layout page when you click on the Atlantic deck. ( Make sure to slide the horizontal bar to the right to see the bow area of the deck. )

That had to be quite a shock. I think what happened was that the ship rode up and plunged into the base of the next wave, so the bow "dug in", and the water rushed over the deck and up against those windows.

[andy58-in-nh]

I’ve been in 20-foot seas in a considerably smaller vessel, and suffice it to say: it’ll make a God-fearing man out of the staunchest atheist.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

/

[OldDeckHand]

'I’m not sure how a 26ft wave is going to reach glass “windshields” on that boat (whatever they mean by that)."

I haven't seen the damage, but I'm guessing it probably broke over the bow. Another possibility and problem is that rogue waves frequently travel in a direction perpendicular to the prevailing sea. IOW, you could be headed directly into normal seas, but then get broadsided by a rogue wave. This can be especially problematic if you happen to be in a trough of the normal sea; maximizing the damage potential.

Until pictures of the vessel emerge, it's going to be difficult to tell precisely what happened.

[livius]

Egads. Were you on that ship? Did it come through okay?

[battletank]

?????

“But he noted there had been winds of over 100 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour) in the area.”

Sounds like foul weather in the area to me!

[OldDeckHand]

"“But he noted there had been winds of over 100 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour) in the area.”"

I believe that was added just after I initially posted the story. When I posted it, it was only a couple paragraphs long. It's considerably longer now, FWIW.

[JimRed]

I’ve been in 20-foot seas in a considerably smaller vessel, and suffice it to say: it’ll make a God-fearing man out of the staunchest atheist.

You weren't on the Northern Light back in '62, were you? My ship responded to a distress call on the way back from the Carribean, and took that beautiful sailing yacht under tow in 15-20' seas until a Coast Guard tug arrived to take over. That was one uncomfortable lookin crew!

[Ramius]

I’ve been in 20-foot seas in a considerably smaller vessel, and suffice it to say: it’ll make a God-fearing man out of the staunchest atheist.

Me too. and 40+ foot seas even. I hear ya. :-)

Just seems odd to me. A 25-30ft wave isn't even going to put green water over the bow of that ship. Maybe a little... and even if it was a freak wave on the beam... I don't know. It just seems like plenty of boat for that sort of seas.

A ship I was stationed on got hit with about a 60ft rogue wave, on the beam... ship rolled about 60 degrees. This ship was less than half the size of that cruise ship. One guy died in a freak accident on the bridge by falling and hitting his head. I suppose something like that could've happened here as well, it's just that it's a lot more ship and a lot less wave. Obviously something did happen, I guess.

[TNoldman]

Was it the poem,,,,(in a furance) ...I haven’t been this warm since I left Tennessee!?

[andy58-in-nh]

I was on a fishing boat about 100 nm out of Gloucester, MA back in the early '90s. Not anywhere as dramatic as The Perfect Storm (thank goodness), but way too close for comfort. At the time, I was a frustrated writer looking for thrills and I found one. I was also an insurance agent working the North Shore of Mass. and knew the friends and families of a few of those guys. Very tightly-knit community out there with many fisherman of Portuguese extraction, including some of the best and toughest people I've ever known. They had skin like leather, salt water blood, and hearts of gold. And today, do-good liberals have decimated their industry and their lives.

[andy58-in-nh]

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold.
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

[SloopJohnB]

==If it ain’t Boeing I ain’t going!==

The same sentiment expressed by some on the findings of this event posted this morning:

The crash of Air France flight 447 from Rio to Paris last year is one of the most mysterious accidents in the history of aviation. After months of investigation, a clear picture has emerged of what went wrong. The reconstruction of the horrific final four minutes reveal continuing safety problems in civil aviation.

The Last Four Minutes of Air France Flight 447

[TNoldman]

Yes, that’s the one. My wife and I heard this and other poems of Robert Service in Dawson City,Yukon. They recited by the bard of Dawson City - I think about 2000. We plan to return in 2011.
Thank you for the reminder of a great experience..

[Defiant]

Hey, if Michael Moore wants to go for a swim in the Mediterranean, he can.

[mewzilla]

FWIW, from 2008....

Tsunami in Greece?

[SunkenCiv]

a cruise ship carrying nearly 2,000 people

Only 2 died? I'm havin' a Constanza moment...

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[AGreatPer]

The Smithsonian Channel has an outstanding film on these unusual waves.
In short, they thought they had figured out the problem and avoided suspect areas. It saved possibly millions of dollars.
Then, just a few years ago, they started happening in parts of the sea never seen before.
They had to admit, it's back to square one.

[Onerom99]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szk83cONAqM

Towards the end of this clip a big odd wave hits. But they seemed to be in choppy water to begin with.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks again hennie pennie.

• Wave Hits Cruise Ship in Mediterranean Sea-(2 DEAD , rogue wave)
• Passenger on cruise ship: Wave ordeal terrifying

Cute, tiny little catastrophe.

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[Mike Darancette]

Rouge waves in the Mediterranean and ships frozen in the Ice in the Baltic. Weird times.

[OldDeckHand]

"Rouge waves in the Mediterranean and ships frozen in the Ice in the Baltic. Weird times."

I see that there's another ferry, in addition to the cruise ship, stranded in the Baltic just off the coast of Sweden with 1K aboard.

1,000 trapped on ferry stuck in Baltic Sea ice