Tag: rogue wave

Norwegian cruise ship MS Maud has lost its navigation capabilities after being struck by a rogue wave during its journey from Florø, Norway, to Tilbury, England.

Rossby waves, also known as planetary waves, naturally occur in rotating fluids. Within the Earth's ocean and atmosphere, these waves are formed as a result of the rotation of the planet.

In its latest Safety Digest, UK MAIB focuses on an incident on a yacht which was into a 10-day ocean passage when it encountered a sudden increase in wind strength during hours of darkness. As the sea conditions deteriorated rapidly, the crew began reefing the main sail in order to reduce the yacht’s sail area; head sails needed to be lowered as well. After the main sail had been reefed, one of the crew was sent below to get extra help from the off-watch crew. The crew member started helping in the cockpit with preparations for lowering the headsails, while she had not yet been clipped on her tether to one of the yacht’s jackstays.

Scientists in the past thought that for three rogue waves of 20m or higher to occur it would need more than 24,000 years; Yet, today scientists know that a rogue wave can occur in 24 hours. Scientists have also discussed about freak waves, which are similarly dangerous, as they appear without a warning and have caused many vessels to sink.

The University of Southampton along with the National Oceanography Centre launched a study according to which rogue waves are occurring less often, but becoming more extreme. In the largest study of its kind, scientists analysed 20 years of observations from buoys situated along America's western seaboard.

A team of researchers at the University of Oxford and Edinburgh have found out and recreated how the 'Draupner rogue wave' , commonly known as freak wave, can occur. The freak waves ale larger than surrounding waves. As they, mostly, appear without a warning they have caused many vessels to sink. 

USCG recovered two unresponsive individuals from the waters outside Rocky Creek State Park, near Depoe Bay, Ore., after receiving a request for assistance, for two people who had reportedly been swept out to sea by a rogue wave while foraging for mussels.

A wave hit the stern of a platform supply vessel and caused the cargo to move. The incident took place while the PSV was working both stern to weather and stern towards the rig, IMCA informed. At that time one crew member was located on the deck in an unsafe position, close to the containers. No injuries were reported.

The Ship Structure Committee published a new report, called: 'Structural Assessment of Aged Ships'. The aims of this report is to develop an assessment process to accurately predict how possible is a corrosion-degraded ship to survive in specific wave conditions.

In a recent IMCA report, unsecured cargo, including a 24' basket and 20 mud skips, shifted across the deck when a large wave passed the vessel. Earlier that day, the ship was working cargo, but due to bad weather conditions, the vessel ended the work. The wave was significantly larger than those forecasted.