One individual handed away, and 4 folks have been injured when a rogue wave hit an expedition cruise ship within the Drake Passage, simply south of Cape Horn. The incident occurred on Tuesday because the Viking Polaris was making her solution to Ushuaia, a widely known homeport for cruises crusing to Antarctica.
The Drake Passage and the waters round Cape Horn are effectively often called a harmful a part of the ocean, the place waves of 30 toes or extra repeatedly happen. Viking Polaris was launched just some weeks in the past and is crusing her inaugural season in Antarctica.
Viking Polaris Hit by Rogue Wave
Crusing within the Southern Ocean is just not with out dangers, as one individual handed away and 4 folks have been injured onboard the Viking Polaris this week. The brand-new expedition cruise ship set sail from Ushuaia in Southern Argentina on November 25 for a cruise to the Antarctic Peninsula.
On her return to her homeport, the ship was hit by a rogue wave on Tuesday, November 29. On the time, the vessel was south of Cape Horn, within the Drake Passage. Whereas there was a storm within the space on the time, in accordance with one visitor onboard, the circumstances have been acceptable on the time.
A press release from Viking mentioned the next: “There was a rogue wave incident involving the Viking Polaris on November 29 at 22:40 native time whereas the ship was crusing in the direction of Ushuaia, Argentina. The ship sustained restricted injury throughout the incident and arrived in port in Ushuaia with out additional incident the afternoon of November 30.”
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In footage taken in port, a number of home windows could be seen damaged on one of many decrease decks, seemingly the situation the place the wave hit. The assertion continued, stating that the 4 remaining passengers had sustained non-life-threatening accidents and have been being handled onboard by medical professionals:
“It’s with nice disappointment that we affirm a visitor handed away following the incident. We’ve got notified the visitor’s household and shared our deepest sympathies. We are going to proceed to supply our full assist to the household within the hours and days forward. 4 different visitors sustained non-life-threatening accidents throughout the incident and have been handled by the ship’s onboard physician and medical workers. We’re investigating the info surrounding this incident and can provide our assist to the related authorities.”
The cruise line additional added that the next cruise, a 10-day Antarctic Explorer cruise to the Antarctic Peninsula, has been canceled. Friends booked on that voyage have been notified by Viking or will likely be knowledgeable by their journey advisors.
Expedition Market Booming, However Dangers Stay
Whereas rogue waves are extraordinarily uncommon, storms passing by means of the Drake Passage aren’t. The world is effectively often called probably the most harmful areas on the planet for ships. Though expedition cruises have develop into extra fashionable these days, the dangers of crusing to the world have remained.
Simply two weeks in the past, two visitors handed away whereas taking a zodiac cruise round Elephant Island in Antarctica. The expedition cruise ship World Explorer was beneath constitution from Quark Expeditions, probably the most skilled operators within the space, which exhibits that whereas stunning, a cruise to Antarctica remains to be an expedition, and there are inherent dangers related to going right here.
The following voyage for Viking Polaris will sail on December 17, a 10-day journey to the Antarctic. The 376-passenger, 30,150 gross-tons expedition cruise ship was launched in September this 12 months. The cruise ship is the sister ship to Viking Octanctis, which launched final 12 months and spent the summer time crusing within the Nice Lakes space.
