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

Table Of Content

• Viking Polaris: Passenger killed after 'rogue wave' hits cruise ship
• US Citizen Killed When ‘Rogue' Wave Hit Viking Cruise Ship in Antarctic
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• Rogue Wave Strikes Cruise Ship, Killing a Passenger and Injuring 4 Others
• "Rogue wave" kills American woman, injures four others on Antarctic cruise ship
• MORE: 'Rogue wave' strikes Antarctic cruise ship, leaves 1 dead and 4 injured

"We wondered if we hit an iceberg. And there are no icebergs out here, but that's how it felt," Suzie Gooding, a passenger on the Viking Polaris, told WRAL News. "Everything was fine until the rogue wave hit, and it was just sudden. Shocking." The ship "sustained limited damage during the incident," Viking added, and arrived in Ushuaia Wednesday afternoon.

Viking Polaris: Passenger killed after 'rogue wave' hits cruise ship

Across the fleet, there are thorough operational protocols in place and we always prioritize the safety of those onboard,” HX said. None of the 266 passengers or 131 crew members were seriously injured, HX said. The cruise company canceled the Viking Polaris’s next scheduled trip, a 13-day cruise to the Antarctic Peninsula. Ushuaia, at the southernmost tip of South America, is a common starting point for cruises to Antarctica.

US Citizen Killed When ‘Rogue' Wave Hit Viking Cruise Ship in Antarctic

Viking also canceled the ship’s next scheduled departure on Dec. 5 for the Antarctic Explorer itinerary. In 2019, a study published in the journal Scientific Reports predicted that rogue waves could become less frequent but more extreme in the future due to the effects of human-caused climate change. The largest rogue wave ever recorded was the Draupner wave, an 84-foot-tall (25.6 meters) wave that was observed near Norway in 1995. However, the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded was the Ucluelet wave, a 58-foot-tall (17.7 m) wave that was detected by an ocean buoy off the coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia in November 2020.

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Such freak accidents may seem rare, but hundreds have occurred without warning around the world — on cruise ships, cargo vessels, oil platforms and beaches. The ship is now sailing to Bremerhaven, Germany, where those on board will disembark. The ship’s condition “remains stable and the crew are able to sail under their own power,” they said in an emailed statement. A woman who was struck by a falling tree on Thursday in the eastern Dutch town of Wilp later died of her injuries, her employer said. NOAA's National Ocean Service describes these "rogue" waves as "walls of water" that are often steep-sided with unusually deep troughs. The cruise ship was anchored near Ushuaia, where a federal court has opened a case to determine what happened.

Four other tourists "sustained non-life-threatening injuries" and were treated onboard, the cruise line said. State Department spokesperson confirmed the death and offered condolences to the family. Lawrence added that while in their muster stations, passengers were given "survival suits" — or suits that "dramatically extend survival times" with insulation, per the Coast Guard. A similar incident occurred on Viking Polaris last year, killing one passenger and injuring four others. The company said that falling trees damaged overhead electric wires or blocked tracks largely in northern Germany, but also in the central state of Hesse.

The storm also brought down trees and prompting warnings of flooding on the North Sea coast. A woman in Belgium was fatally injured by a falling Christmas tree, while another tree killed a person in the Netherlands. The four other guests had non-life-threatening injuries and received treatment from doctors and medical staff onboard. "Our team are working to arrange onward travel back home for guests onboard," the statement added.

Scientists are still trying to figure out how and when these uncommon waves form. Rogue, or extreme storm, waves are "greater than twice the size of surrounding waves" and are "very unpredictable," according to the National Ocean Service. Four passengers who were injured were treated onboard the ship by a doctor and medical staff for non-life-threatening injuries, the company said.

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

The Trusdales were passengers on the Viking Polaris cruise ship sailing toward Ushuaia, Argentina, when it was hit by a "rogue wave" last week, killing an American passenger, Sheri Zhu, and injuring four others. The "rogue wave incident" occurred during a storm on Tuesday – when the Viking Polaris cruise ship was heading towards Ushuaia, Argentina, the company said in an Thursday update. One person died and four others were injured after a "rogue wave" hit the Viking Polaris cruise ship while it was sailing toward Ushuaia, Argentina, on Tuesday night, officials said. The ship is docked as passengers await further travel plans from Viking, according to Gooding, who said that two other ships in their bay in Ushuaia were also damaged, possibly by rogue waves. The ship sustained "limited damage" from the rogue wave and arrived in Ushuaia on Wednesday "without further incident," Viking said.

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The ship was traveling to Ushuaia, Argentina, when it was struck and Fox News Digital has reached out to the government there for further comment. The ship suffered minor damage and was anchored off Ushuaia, 3,200 kilometers (nearly 2,000 miles) from the capital Buenos Aires, with several windows smashed on the side, AFP journalists reported. In Hamburg, the Elbe River flooded streets around the city's fish market, with water waist-high in places. German authorities warned of a storm surge of up to three meters (nearly 10 feet) or more above mean high tide on parts of the North Sea coast on Friday.

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"At the time that it happened, we personally wondered if, you know, we knew that we weren't by any icebergs, but it's like, did we hit an iceberg? It just was so sudden." The passenger killed was a U.S. citizen, a State Department spokesperson confirmed to ABC News Friday. A guest died following the incident, Viking said, though did not share further details on the cause of death. Beverly Spiker of California also told ABC News that a "huge smash" against the window of the cabin she and her husband were staying in caused the frame to shatter, adding, "A lot of water came shooting in."

The company has decided to cancel its scheduled voyage, which would have seen the ship sail towards Antarctica from 5-17 December. The Viking Polaris was launched in 2022 and is the newest ship in the company's fleet.

The 202m (662ft) ship - which was completed this year - arrived in Argentina on Wednesday and had sustained "limited damage" after being struck by the wave, Viking said. "The situation started with the ship's horn sounding for an extremely long time, then the PA system came on, and we just heard scuffling and general moving around noises," Lawrence said. Then, passengers heard the alarm that meant they should head to their muster stations — the place on board where guests gather in case of an emergency.

Suzie Gooding, who was on the ship when the incident happened, recalled feeling like they'd hit an iceberg, according to NBC affiliate WRAL of Raleigh, North Carolina. The ship, traveling under its own power, is currently sailing to Bremerhaven, Germany, for disembarkation, HX said in an updated statement Friday. The ship was in the North Sea at the time, in an area hit by a storm late Thursday with hurricane-force gusts forecast to continue Friday, the Danish Meteorological Institute said according to Reuters. “We are investigating the facts surrounding this incident and will offer our support to the relevant authorities,” the company said. Sheri Zhu, 62, has been identified by ABC News as the person who died during the incident last Tuesday, citing Secretary of the Ushuaia Federal Court Melina Rodriguez.

In 2019, a study revealed that rogue waves are occurring less often but becoming more extreme, posing an increased risk to global shipping. There were no serious injuries among guests or crew members aboard the MS Maud vessel, operated by HX, formerly Hurtigruten Expeditions. The ship was on its way from Florø, Norway, to Tilbury, England, at the time, according to a spokesperson. "This wave hit it and came over and literally broke through windows and just washed into these rooms, and not only did it wash into the rooms, but it broke walls down, and once some walls went into the next room," Tom Trusdale said. On Dec. 2, a passenger onboard another cruise ship in the Drake Passage shared a video of another massive, but less destructive, wave on Twitter. Rogue waves are unpredictable, typically twice the size of surrounding waves and often come from a different direction than the surrounding wind and waves, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.