Anyone Have Any Experience With A Rogue Wave?

Serious question.

I was reading about a 70 foot rogue wave that hit a RCL ship near the Bahamas. I wondered if any CC members have ever seen or been on board a ship when a "rogue wave" has hit and if you could share your experience with us.

Thanks!

Serious question.

 

I was reading about a 70 foot rogue wave that hit a RCL ship near the Bahamas. I wondered if any CC members have ever seen or been on board a ship when a "rogue wave" has hit and if you could share your experience with us.

 

Thanks!

I think you might be referring to this:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/cruiselog/2007/06/jury_dismisses_.html

http://www.frommers.com/articles/3344.html

which was actually NCL.

In any case, I watched a whole documentary on Discovery or some channel like that and the whole phenomena of rogue waves was amazing (and very very scary). The rogue waves apparently even crest differently which makes then even more deadly than a "normal" large wave, if any wave of that size is normal.

Yes, you are right, sorry. I just don't understand how a ship could survive a wave of that height? and was surprised that so few people were injuried! If I saw a 70 foot wave coming in my direction, I wonder what I would do?? :confused:

This is a very interesting subject, as some think it may be the ultimate mystery behind the burmuda triangle disappearances.

It is all so "Poseidon" to me! :eek:

Cruise ships should have no problems handling rogue waves. If you feel a sudden list....just hang on, and avoid hitting or getting hit by anything. The chances of getting hit are EXTREMELY SMALL. It should not be a worry, but if you get into rough seas, just be aware of your surroundings and what's happening.

I just wondered since so many CC members cruise so often, i wondered if anyone had ever seen one? or survived one?

I saw that same documentary. Love this thread. Hope we dont hear anything bad though.

Yes, you are right, sorry. I just don't understand how a ship could survive a wave of that height? and was surprised that so few people were injuried! If I saw a 70 foot wave coming in my direction, I wonder what I would do?? :confused:

I wonder what I would do too. I would be so scared, but I think I would run to the interior of the ship, but close enough to an exit on the outside that I could swim out if necessary. Like, if the ship flipped which I think is nearly impossible, but who knows :confused:

Great thread! I have to admit, I think about this before each of my cruises! That and I always wondered what would happen if say, the US got bombed with nukes while we were onboard - what would happen? Where would be go?

SCARY!:eek:

One of the "good things" about rogue waves is that they are big! This means that they can normally be seen by a ship's radar long before they are visible to the naked eye.

This would allow the ship plenty of time to turn into the wave.

Wave size does vary in severe storms. Again, the Captain will position the ship to assure its safety as it encounters the waves.

If you want to read a great novel about nuclear war, find a copy of "Alas, Babalon." It is the story of a small town in central Florida that is untouched by a series of nuclear blasts in Florida and how the people adapt and survive. The book is old but good.

Great thread, but scary to think about. Hope I am not on a ship that encounters one. :eek: :eek:

Yes, I was on ship that was hit by a rogue wave. It was on the Nordic Empress in March of 1993 (my very first cruise...I was 13 or so). It was when the "Storm of the Century" hit the eastern part of the US. We were doing a 4 or 5 day Bahamas cruise. I don't remember how big the wave was (don't think it was 70 ft, but maybe it was), but I do remember that it was late (maybe 11pm) and the captain made an announcement that was broadcast in every cabin to explain what had happened. I remember all of our stuff fell off the shelves and people the next day were talking about how the bottles of liquor in the bars all leaned forward and were up against those rails that hold them in place. However, the best story I heard about the wave was from my father. He was in the casino playing blackjack and he had his chips divided into stacks 6 chips high. The top two chips slid off the stack! I don't recall there being any serious injuries or extreme damage.

Gosh people, I just booked a TA for 13 nights - I am praying NO ROGUE! :(

I don't think we had a rogue wave but none of the passengers could explain it and the crew shrugged it off. We were with our family on an August cruise several years ago returning to Galveston across the Gulf of Mexico. It was a gorgeous evening and the water was very still. We were eating in the dining room and it was around sunset. The ship listed just a little and many of the dishes and items from the wait stations slid and crashed on the ground. We were somewhat alarmed but the crew just hustled around and picked everything up. It kind of felt like we hit something but there was nothing around. Hmmmmmm......

Trainman, Alas Babylon is my favorite book of all time. I have read it over and over! It's funny because I never have heard anyone talk about it before-Good Choice!

I remember we were struck by one in the Bay of Biscay in the 1970s. It was a Greek liner called the Ellinis, about 28,000 tonnes. It was not a particularly rough day. It seemed like the ship just started to tilt to one side until it reached about 45 degrees and it was impossible to walk down the corridor unless you had one foot one floor and one on the wall and just hanging. It seemed to last for an eternity until it slowly righted itself and rocked back and forth two or three more times. It was childrens dinner time and the restaurant was a total disaster with smashed plates, screaming children on the floor and food everywhere. I remember all the ship's typewriters (yes it was that long ago) crashed off the desks in the purser's office and were ruined and every bar was a mess of broken glass. As I said it seemed like an eternity but was a probably only a minute or two before it set itself upright again.

One of the "good things" about rogue waves is that they are big! This means that they can normally be seen by a ship's radar long before they are visible to the naked eye.

 

This would allow the ship plenty of time to turn into the wave.

 

Wave size does vary in severe storms. Again, the Captain will position the ship to assure its safety as it encounters the waves.

 

If you want to read a great novel about nuclear war, find a copy of "Alas, Babalon." It is the story of a small town in central Florida that is untouched by a series of nuclear blasts in Florida and how the people adapt and survive. The book is old but good.

I once asked the Captain on the Constellation (Celebrity) about rogue waves and he told me that they DO NOT show up on radar. He said that the officers on the bridge would most likely have a visual sighting. Let's hope so! Encountered 20+ ft. waves on our Jewel transatlantic last month most of the crossing and they were a little unnerving, especially if your cabin was on deck 2. Ours was on 7, but someone posted their photo on the thread. It looked like the view of a front loader washing machine.:)

The Freedom of the Seas was hit by a water spout out of New York. The people who I know, who were on it said that all they could see was water out of one window and sky out of the other.

Cruise ships should have no problems handling rogue waves. If you feel a sudden list....just hang on, and avoid hitting or getting hit by anything. The chances of getting hit are EXTREMELY SMALL. It should not be a worry, but if you get into rough seas, just be aware of your surroundings and what's happening.

The problem with rogue waves and causing so much damage is how they form. I won't pretend to be able to repeat all of the physics, but as I seem to remember basically the normal flow of waves is distorted and a wave is able to "steal" energy from the wave in front and behind it. This causes a deep "dip" in front of the wave and causes the wave to crest and break like it is hitting a beach. This produces quite a different effect than a normally rolling wave. In addition, before this phenomena was discovered, I believe ships were only designed for 50 foot non-breaking waves.

If my memory serves me from the documentary, researches thought they were old sailors tails until the big oil companies put sensors to measure wave heights on their rigs in the ocean, and recorded waves over 30 meters way more often than chance and conditions would have it.

Here is an interesting video where you can see it actually break

http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_product.asp?master%5Fmovie%5Fid=36706

One of the "good things" about rogue waves is that they are big! This means that they can normally be seen by a ship's radar long before they are visible to the naked eye.

 

This would allow the ship plenty of time to turn into the wave.

 

Wave size does vary in severe storms. Again, the Captain will position the ship to assure its safety as it encounters the waves.

 

If you want to read a great novel about nuclear war, find a copy of "Alas, Babalon." It is the story of a small town in central Florida that is untouched by a series of nuclear blasts in Florida and how the people adapt and survive. The book is old but good.

I think "rogue" waves happen fairly quickly, and I think most ships hit are already turned into them. It is the abnormal nature that apparently make them so deadly.

One of the "good things" about rogue waves is that they are big! This means that they can normally be seen by a ship's radar long before they are visible to the naked eye.

 

This would allow the ship plenty of time to turn into the wave.

 

Wave size does vary in severe storms. Again, the Captain will position the ship to assure its safety as it encounters the waves.

 

If you want to read a great novel about nuclear war, find a copy of "Alas, Babalon." It is the story of a small town in central Florida that is untouched by a series of nuclear blasts in Florida and how the people adapt and survive. The book is old but good.

Rogue waves will not show up on radar. Radars have a declutter feature which hides the waves, so you can see actual objects such as other ships.

The other reason is that rogue waves are very short-lived. They are created by the constructive interference from 2 or more other large waves. They arise quickly and last only a short period of time. There is seldom time to react.

I came across this video the other day on Youtube... scary!

Cruise ships should have no problems handling rogue waves. If you feel a sudden list....just hang on, and avoid hitting or getting hit by anything. The chances of getting hit are EXTREMELY SMALL. It should not be a worry, but if you get into rough seas, just be aware of your surroundings and what's happening.

I was not on the Dawn but I was on the Sovereign the day that wave hit the Dawn, first week of April '05. We had just left port in Nassau behind the Dawn and were sailing back to Port Canaveral, the Dawn was sailing to New York. We were not far behind the Dawn when the wave struck and I can remember crew onboard the Sovereign were in a bit of a flurry.

Within minutes of the wave striking the Dawn, the other ships within the vicinity were appearantly alerted. I can remember walking down the stairwell and eavesdropping on a conversation. One of the three crew members said a rogue wave had just hit the Dawn ahead of us (minutes ago) and the Captain had ordered the Sovereign to alter it's heading.

I will never forget how excited (nervous) the crew were we encountered on those stairs at that moment because of our proximity to the Dawn. The Sovereign was, from what I heard from the crew, sailing on the same heading and the next closest ship. This is as close as I've ever been to a rogue wave encounter.

We immediately went looking for more news but nothing was being reported (yet). If I recall, I think I posted live from Sovereign when this happened, I'll have to look.

:eek: That wave hit the bridge?? And the crew was standing there taken totally by surprise?

So if the ship had not been headed into the wave but the wave hit from the side would that create a list? Wasn't it a Princess ship that listed so badly a few years ago?

I'm going to start sleeping in my life jacket....