'Rogue wave' strikes Antarctic cruise ship, leaves 1 dead and 4 injured
The Viking Polaris ship was sailing toward Ushuaia, Argentina, at the time.
An American passenger on an Antarctic cruise died and four other guests were injured after their Viking ship was struck by a "rogue wave," officials said.
The incident happened on Tuesday around 10:40 p.m. local time while the Viking Polaris ship was sailing toward Ushuaia, Argentina, Viking said.
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A guest died following the incident, Viking said, though did not share further details on the cause of death. The victim's family has been notified, the company said.
The passenger killed was a U.S. citizen, a State Department spokesperson confirmed to ABC News Friday.
"We are offering all appropriate consular assistance. Out of respect for the family during this difficult time, we have no further comment," the spokesperson said.
The victim was confirmed as Sheri Zhu, 62, by Secretary of the Ushuaia Federal Court Melina Rodriguez.
Four other guests sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the incident and were treated by the ship's doctor and medical staff, Viking said.
"We are investigating the facts surrounding this incident and will offer our support to the relevant authorities," Viking said in a statement Thursday. "Our focus remains on the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew, and we are working directly with them to arrange return travel."
The ship sustained "limited damage" from the rogue wave and arrived in Ushuaia on Wednesday "without further incident," Viking said. Images taken of the docked ship showed several damaged windows.
Passengers on board the ship described choppy conditions leading up to the incident.
Californian Beverly Spiker told ABC News that a "huge smash" against the window of her and her husband's cabin caused her window frame to break.
"Clearly something big had happened," she said. "A lot of water came shooting in."
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"Luckily, our windows did hold," she added, though said other rooms on their side of the ship were "washed out."
Spiker's cousin, Suzie Gooding, of North Carolina, told ABC News that at the time, the ship was going through the Drake Passage, "which is well-known for having turbulent seas."
Gooding said despite the conditions outside looking "horrible," the inside was "like a normal cruise ship" leading up to the incident. She said she felt a "sudden shudder" that caused cabinets to open.
"It was just unbelievable," she said. "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."
Spiker said she and other passengers were "shook up" afterward.
"No matter what side of the boat you're on, it was felt throughout the ship that clearly something bad had happened," she said. "So everybody was pretty shook up."
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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 Viking Polaris ship's next departure for the Antarctic, scheduled for Dec. 5, has been canceled "after careful consideration," the cruise line said.
Rogue, or extreme storm, waves are "greater than twice the size of surrounding waves" and are "very unpredictable," according to the National Ocean Service .
Ushuaia, at the southernmost tip of South America, is a common starting point for cruises to Antarctica.
ABC News' Matthew Seyler contributed to this report.
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'Rogue wave' hits Viking cruise ship, killing 1 passenger and injuring 4 others
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.
“It is with great sadness that we confirmed a guest passed away following the incident,” Viking said in a statement Thursday. “We have notified the guest’s family and shared our deepest sympathies. We will continue to offer our full support to the family in the hours and days ahead.”
The name and hometown of the passenger was not released, but Argentine authorities identified her as a 62-year-old American who was hit by broken glass when the wave broke cabin windows, according to The Associated Press .
The four other guests had non-life-threatening injuries and received treatment from doctors and medical staff onboard.
Rogue waves, or extreme storm waves, are uncommon, unpredictable and "greater than twice the size of surrounding waves," according to the National Ocean Service . They are described as "walls of water" in most reports.
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.
“Everything was fine until the rogue wave hit, and it was just sudden. Shocking,” Gooding told the news station. “We didn’t know if we should get our gear ready for abandoning ship.”
The ship "sustained limited damage during the incident" and arrived in Ushuaia Wednesday afternoon, Viking said in its statement.
"We are investigating the facts surrounding this incident and will offer our support to the relevant authorities," the company said. "Our focus remains on the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew, and we are working directly with them to arrange return travel."
The Viking Polaris’ next departure, the Antarctic Explorer cruise scheduled for Dec. 5-17, was canceled due to the incident.
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"Rogue wave" kills American woman, injures four others on Antarctic cruise ship
Updated on: December 2, 2022 / 7:15 PM EST / CBS/AFP
A U.S. woman died and four other passengers were injured when a massive wave smashed into an Antarctic cruise ship during a storm as it sailed off the southernmost tip of South America, officials said Friday. The 62-year-old woman was hit by broken glass when the wave broke cabin windows late Tuesday, Argentine authorities said.
The Viking Polaris cruise ship was sailing toward Ushuaia in Argentina — the main starting point for expeditions to Antarctica — when there was "a rogue wave incident," a representative of the Viking cruise company said in a statement .
"It is with great sadness that we confirmed a guest passed away following the incident. We have notified the guest's family and shared our deepest sympathies," the statement said.
Neither the Viking statement nor the Argentine Naval Prefecture identified the woman or her hometown.
In a statement to CBS News, a U.S. State Department spokesperson confirmed the death and offered condolences to the family.
"We are offering all appropriate consular assistance," the spokesperson said. "Out of respect for the family during this difficult time, we have no further comment."
Four other tourists "sustained non-life-threatening injuries" and were treated onboard, the cruise line said.
"We wondered if we hit an iceberg," Suzie Gooding, a passenger from North Carolina, told WRAL-TV . "And there are no icebergs out here, but that's how it felt."
Gooding told the station that the impact of the wave was "shocking."
"Everything was fine until the rogue wave hit, and it was just sudden. Shocking," Gooding said. "We didn't know if we should get our gear ready for abandoning ship."
Durham couple on board cruise ship struck by enormous wave, killing 1, injuring 4 https://t.co/6FIvbmV0dT — WRAL NEWS in NC (@WRAL) December 2, 2022
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.
Viking said it was "investigating the facts surrounding this incident."
Scientists often refer to rogue waves as extreme storm waves that surge out of nowhere, often in an unpredictable direction, and can look like a steep wall of water, up to twice the size of surrounding waves.
These rare killer waves were once seen as a myth reported by mariners or explorers. The polar explorer Ernest Shackleton wrote in his book of a "gigantic" freak wave he encountered in Antarctica in 1916.
However, scientists have learned more about them in recent decades, studying how they emerge and how to predict the wall of water that can surge up even in calm seas.
The Viking Polaris was launched in 2022 and is the newest ship in the company's fleet.
The incident comes two weeks after two tourists died on another Antarctic cruise. The two men, aged 76 and 80, had left the World Explorer ship for an excursion on an inflatable zodiac boat which overturned near the shore.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Giant 'rogue wave' hits Antarctica-bound cruise ship, leaving one dead and four injured
One person died and four others were injured after a giant "rogue wave" hit an Antarctica-bound cruise ship, travel company Viking said.
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 . According to AFP , Ushuaia is a starting point for many trips to Antarctica.
"It is with great sadness that we confirmed a guest passed away following the incident. We have notified the guest's family and shared our deepest sympathies," Viking's statement read, adding that four other passengers were treated for "non-life-threatening injuries" by the ship's onboard doctor and medical staff.
The ship "sustained limited damage during the incident," Viking added, and arrived in Ushuaia Wednesday afternoon. AFP reported several windows were smashed.
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"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."
Viking said the company's "focus remains on the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew" and that they were working to arrange return travel for those impacted by the trip. Viking also canceled the ship’s next scheduled departure on Dec. 5 for the Antarctic Explorer itinerary.
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According to Viking's website , the Viking Polaris is a 665-foot-long cruise ship that was built in 2022. Its capacity allows for 378 guests and 256 crew members.
What is a 'rogue wave?'
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , a rogue wave is a large and unexpected wave that can be very dangerous.
Rogue waves, which scientists call "extreme storm waves," are more than twice the size of surrounding waves, the NOAA says, and often come from different directions than that of the already-existing waves and wind.
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These waves are very unpredictable and have a frightening appearance – with most reports describing rogue waves to look like steep "walls of water," the NOAA says.
The agency adds that rogue waves are "extremely rare." Experts are still researching how these waves form, but the NOAA notes that there are several known causes – including "constructive interference" relating to swells in the ocean and focuses on shifts in "wave energy."
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