Rogue Waves That Sink Super-Carrier Ships are Real

Once dismissed as a nautical myths, freakish waves that can rise as high as a ten-story building have finally been accepted as a leading cause for the sinking of many large ships. In an effort to look for these rogue ocean waves, a consortium of 11 organizations from six E.U. countries founded "WaveMax" in December, 2000. Also, joining the search for rogue waves has been the European Space Agency (ESA), which uses two of its satellites to monitor the oceans. As it turns out, the waves exist in higher numbers than anyone previously thought. During a three week period, the consortium found 10 giant waves, all of which were over 81 feet high. Mariners who survive similar encounters have had remarkable stories to tell. In February, 1995, the cruise liner "Queen Elizabeth" ran into a 91 foot wave during a hurricane in the North Atlantic. Captain Ronald Warwick described the wave as "a great wall of water?it looked as if we were going into the White Cliffs of Dover." During a week period between February and March 2001, two cruises liners (the "Bremen" and the "Caledonian Star") had their bridge windows smashed by 98 foot waves in the South Atlantic. The "Caledonian Star" was left without navigation or propulsion for two hours. Oil rigs in the North Sea have been hit by rogue waves for years. Radar data from the Goma oil field in the North Sea recorded 466 rogue waves in 12 years. These offshore platforms have been built to withstand waves of only 49 feet. A new research project called "WaveAtlas" will use data from the ESA to create a worldwide atlas of rogue wave events to assist ships in navigating perilous areas. Some patterns have already been found. Rogue waves are often associated with sites where ordinary waves encounter ocean currents and eddies.