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~ Captain Michael Bradford ~
Chief Officer Reynolds
First Officer Chapman
Ship Specs
Length: 1106 ft. long from bow to stern (337.1 m)
Height: 224 ft. high from base of the hull to tip of the funnel (68.3 m)/20 stories
Capacity: 800 cabins
Passengers: 2627
Crew: 1486
Above Deck:
*6 floors of above-deck Luxury Cabins
*382 Suites total
*2 Lofted Penthouses
*A wide screen LCD television and game station in every room
*14 unique cabin layouts to choose from
Below Deck:
*220 lower cabins, disco, lounges and entertainment rooms
*Luxurious Ballroom - Special New Year's Eve Celebration Hosted by Gloria
*Deluxe Casino situated on balconies overlooking the Ballroom
*876 Portholes on the hull, providing a view into all below-deck spaces.
Front Deck:
*Full library
*Bar
*Deluxe gym
Rear Deck:
*The Sunset Restaurant
*Aquarium
*Viewing Area
*3 Olympic Size Pools - Outdoor and indoor (with retractable roof for outdoor enjoyment, weather permitting)
*2 Outdoor Jacuzzis
*Shuffleboard deck
*32 Lifeboats
*31 Security Cameras
*44 First Aid Boxes
*413 Signs with directions and warnings
Thank you for sailing with the Poseidon
Unless you've been living under a rock, you know what happens: the Poseidon, tough as it is, takes a catastrophic port-side hit from a gargantuan rouge wave. Immediately, and at his own discretion, First Officer Reynolds banks the ship hard-to-port, attempting to break through the wall, head-on, with Poseidon's bow. But the water is too fast, and its force and swell send the Poseidon into a 360 degree roll, before it settles, capsized in the North Atlantic.
For the filmmakers, the first step in visualizing this moment of impact for Poseidon's signature sequence is storyboards. Below, for you, we have a couple storyboard sketches from the scene.
From here, of course, the job moves on to the creative team at Industrial Light & Magic. The company's ever-evolving image rendering techniques were, again, pushed forward by the challenges of Poseidon. The result is an ocean liner in an environment that's almost entirely CGI; and, most significantly, photo-realistic. "I don't expect people to think 'What a great CGI shot,'" says visual effects supervisor Boyd Shermis. "Instead, they might think, 'What a great ship? Where did the find it?'"
ILM's objective was to create a ship that, itself, is a character who heightens the performance of other characters. "We all felt the power of this huge ship dying," says star Josh Lucas. "It's like we're inside this giant living beast that's mortally wounded. First it loses its heart, then vital organs start to shut down. All the while we're trying to get through it, everything is imploding, burning, and sinking.
"In terms of scope, it's one of the most complex VFX pictures ever created," says Shermis. "You're going to see the wave react to the ship in ways traditionally not seen in computer graphics. It's not just rendering a wave to stand 150 feet high with a particular curvature, it's the full interaction of the explosive events as the wave hits the ship, runs over the decks, destroys parts of the structure, and turns it around."
Josh Lucas - Dylan Johns
Jacinda Barrett - Maggie James
Kurt Russell - Robert Ramsey
Richard Dreyfuss - Richard Nelson
Jimmy Bennett - Conor James
Emmy Rossum - Jennifer Ramsey
Mike Vogel - Christian
Mía Maestro - Elena Gonzalez
Andre Braugher - Captain Michael Bradford
Stacy Ferguson - Gloria (as Fergie)
Kevin Dillon - Lucky Larry
Freddy Rodríguez - Marco Valentin
Kirk B.R. Woller - Chief Officer Reynolds
Kelly McNair - Emily
Gabriel Jarret - First Officer Chapman
The movie centers on the Poseidon, a luxury ocean liner, named for the Greek god of the sea, in the midst of a transatlantic crossing.
The beginning focus on a brief introduction of the main characters as they go about their activities and business throughout the ship: Jennifer "Jen" Ramsey (Emmy Rossum) and Christian (Mike Vogel) are a young couple hoping to soon be engaged, but Robert Ramsey (Kurt Russell), Jen's father and former firefighter/mayor of New York, harbours doubts about the relationship, and Christian in particular.
Elena (Mía Maestro) is a stowaway traveling to see her ill brother in New York. She resides in the cabin of Marco Valentin (Freddy Rodriguez), a waiter in the ship's dining room. Dylan Johns (Josh Lucas) is a smooth-talking professional gambler, and architect Richard Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss) is a distraught gay man who has recently experienced a break up with his boyfriend.
Later in the evening, Captain Michael Bradford (Andre Braugher) welcomes everyone to the New Year's party in the ship's ballroom, where Gloria (Stacy Ferguson) is the entertainer. On the upper level of the ballroom, Dylan and Robert are playing a game of poker with "Lucky Larry" (Kevin Dillon) and another passenger. Jen comes briefly to wish her father a happy New Year before heading downstairs to the nightclub with Christian. On the ballroom's main level, Nelson orders a five thousand dollar bottle of wine for the table, tells some of his table-mates the story of his breakup, and excuses himself to go on deck for air. Dylan, meanwhile, walking away with his winnings, bumps into a boy, Connor James (Jimmy Bennett), playing with his PSP. Dylan is introduced to Connor's mother, Maggie (Jacinda Barrett), when she comes up looking for her son. Down in the disco, Jen and Christian are dancing, and Elena manoeuvres her way through the crowded disco by herself.
In the ballroom, the countdown to the new year ends with streamers, balloons and cheers.
On the bridge the First Officer, Chapman (Gabriel Jarret), silences a celebratory crew, showing concern. He spots a rogue wave nearing the ship, as does Nelson, who was about to jump overboard and then returns inside. The officer puts in an order to turn the bow to starboard in order to avoid a side-on hit, but it is too late. The wave hits the ship, rolling it completely upside-down. As the wave begins to capsize the ship, crashing is heard everywhere in the ship, a group of people who were swimming in the indoor pool are plundged into the ocean as the glass surounding them breaks. In the lobby the elevator collapes and a woman falls to her death screaming. As the wave passes over the exposed keel, causes it to rise again on the opposite side, causing the ship to complete a 270-degree rotation on its beam-end before settling in an inverted position and people can be heard screaming inside the now capsized ship. The impact of the wave and roll of the ship sweeps people overboard, while others are incinerated to ash in flash-fires, crushed by debris, or electrocuted.
The ship loses power upside-down, but the back-up generator kicks in, turning the power back on. In the ballroom, Maggie recovers, and immediately begins calling for Connor, who was last seen hanging on to the bolted-down piano as the ship flipped over.
Meanwhile, Jennifer and Christian are in the remains of the nightclub, where everyone is in a panic. One of the spotlight girders has fallen on Christian, trapping his leg beneath it. Jen and Elena try to lift the girder off of Christian. Back in the ballroom, Maggie spots Connor on the bottom of the bolted-down piano, which is now on the "ceiling". Robert grabs a curtain, claiming to once be a fireman, and tells Connor to jump into it, which he does. The curtain acts as a safety net and Connor lands safely into it.
In the nightclub, Jen and Elena are still trying to free Christian. Suddenly, sprinklers on the other side of the room go off, and the water hits some loose electrical wires, gruesomely electrocuting everyone it touches to death. Elena decides to go get help.
After some calm is restored in the ballroom, the captain assures the people that when the ship was hit, a signal-beacon was released and rescue teams would be on the way in several hours.
In the ballroom, Robert fights with the captain over his desire to go search for Jen. Dylan, who opts to save himself rather than wait for help, is spotted leaving by Connor. This draws attention to Dylan, first by Maggie, and then by Robert and Nelson. After questioning and arguing, Dylan explains that they will probably be able to get out through the bow thrusters, now above the water line. Before leaving, Robert pulls Marco aside and conscripting him, as he is a staff member and can act as a guide through the ship. After the group leaves, the Captain orders the water-tight doors sealed.
Back in the nightclub, Elena is horrified by all the bodies, but keeps on walking. As she tries to climb a girder, an arm suddenly grabs her from under a pile of corpses. The arm belongs to Lucky Larry, who has survived.
Making their way to the Disco, the group travels through the fiery kitchen and climbs a deck via a service elevator shaft. In the shaft, the group uses a bench as a makeshift bridge and Dylan, Connor, Maggie, and Robert made it safely to the other side. However, as Marco tries to help Nelson, the elevator cab suspended above them begins to shake loose causing their makeshift bridge to fall and Marco is left dangling and clinging to Nelson's legs. In order for Nelson to save himself, he has to kick Marco off, who falls all the way to the "top" of the shaft where he's impaled on metal debris and then crushed by the falling elevator. The group recovers and heads on.
In the nightclub, Elena, Jennifer, and "Lucky Larry" manage to get the girder off of Christian just as the other group arrives from the ballroom.
The assemblage then heads through the passenger corridors and into the main atrium, where the fallen elevator is their only bridge to the other side. After most get across successfully, a large piece of machinery torn loose from its moorings falls through the floor above, striking the bridge, with Lucky Larry on it, followed by a waterfall of fuel which ignites into a stream of flame. Without the elevator tracks to cross, Dylan grabs a nearby fire hose, dives into the water, swims across, and climbs up to where the others are, making a rope bridge. With Jen and her father alone on the one side of the atrium, she shows him the engagement ring, to which he offers little surprise. The two, using a piece of broken brass railing, slide across the fire hose bridge together.
Back in the ballroom, the glass of the exterior windows starts cracking from explosion shockwaves, and the rivets pop out, spraying water into the room. It doesn't take long for people to notice and start panicking and looking for an exit, but the corridors beyond the water-tight doors are flooded. The Captain and Gloria calmly hug each other just before all the windows shatter and water comes pouring in, drowning everyone. The screams of those trapped in the ballroom are heard by the survivors in the atrium, and the group heads off once more, realizing the water is on the way. The flaming lake in the bottom of the atrium begins to rise quickly.
Robert finds a shaft which he thinks might lead up to the next level. Despite Elena's claustrophobia, everyone makes their way into the duct, with the water now rushing into the corridor behind them. Once Robert reaches the grille at the end of the shaft, he finds it screwed shut from the outside, his fingers too big to manipulate the screw loose. To make matters worse, Nelson slips, trapping Elena and a drowning Dylan underneath him, but he manages to free himself in the nick of time. Using his small hands, and Elena's crucifix as a screwdriver, Connor releases the grille, allowing everyone to climb out of the rapidly filling duct.
They eventually find themselves in a ballast tank, with the only mode of exit being through the sealed portal into the next tank beyond, and only flooding the tank will open the portal. The tank is flooded, the vent opens, and the bunch swims through. Beyond that point, they head through flooded corridors towards a set of stairs. However, Elena gets caught on loose wires, and while trying to free herself, she hits her head. Dylan swims back to attempt her rescue, but it is too late. With Nelson distraught over her death, the group ties Elena's cross back on her, puts her body in the water, and moves on. The remaining ballast tanks continue to fill one by one, bringing the ship closer to sinking.
Beyond the stairs, the path to the bow thrusters is found to run into more water, as the ship is sinking by the bow. Discouraged, the survivors regroup and try to think of another way out when suddenly the engine room explodes, blowing out the stern decks below, and causing the ship to tilt towards the rear. This forces the water within the ship to shift, draining towards the stern, and thus clearing the way to the bow thrusters. Before they all head off, though, Maggie notices that after the wave of water, Connor has gone missing. She and Dylan search for him while the others secure an exit, and find him trapped behind a screen in an area rapidly filling with water. He is rescued by Dylan, and the trio rapidly swim towards the other four, who have made it into the bow thruster room.
In the bow thruster room, Nelson, spotting the hatch that gives access to the propeller shaft, opens it, only to get blown back by wind caused by the still-active propellers. Christian proposes blocking the propellers with debris, but Robert points out that the blades are turning the wrong way, and need to be either stopped manually or turning in the other direction in order to create suction. The two argue about who should make the hundred and fifty foot swim to the flooded control room. Robert agrees that Christian should go, as his lungs have a greater capacity. However, after Christian says goodbye to Jen, he turns to find that Robert has already swum off. Dylan, Maggie, and Connor arrive and are told what has transpired. Meanwhile, Robert arrives at the control room only to find the emergency engine stop button broken. He frantically searches for another button as he starts running out of air. He freezes knowing he's going to die just as he sees the propeller reverse button and presses it with his last breath.
In the bow thruster room, it is noticed that the blades are now turning the other way. Dylan moves to throw a pressurized tank into the shaft, but the tank gets caught crosswise in the narrow door frame, held in place by the strong suction of air. He manages to kick it through, causing an explosion that blows out the propellers on both sides of the ship. The remaining survivors pick their way through the shaft, jump into the ocean, and swim for a nearby lifeboat that was inflated upon the capsizing. As they clamber in, in an ironic twist of fate, the "Poseidon" rights itself just before sinking. Jennifer urges everyone to paddle the life raft away from the backwash, which threatens to drown them. After escape, Dylan fires off a flare gun, and after wait of unknown time, a pair of SH-60 Seahawk helicopters arrive to pick the six survivors from the water.
It is common for mid-ocean storm waves to reach 7 metres (23 feet) in height, and in extreme conditions such waves can reach heights of 15 metres (50 feet). However, for centuries maritime lore told of the existence of vastly more massive waves — veritable monsters up to 30 metres (100 feet) in height (approximately the height of a 12-story building) — that could appear without warning in mid-ocean, against the prevailing current and wave direction, and often in perfectly clear weather. Such waves were said to consist of an almost vertical wall of water preceded by a trough so deep that it was referred to as a "hole in the sea"; a ship encountering a wave of such magnitude would be unlikely to survive the tremendous pressures of up to 100 tonnes/m2 (980 kPa) exerted by the weight of the breaking water, and would almost certainly be sunk in a matter of seconds. Usual ship design allows for rounded storm waves up to 15 m and pressures around 15 tonnes/m2 (147 kPa) without damage, and somewhat more (around 20 m) if some deformation is allowed for.[4]
Scientists long dismissed such stories, asserting that mathematical models indicated that ocean waves of greater than 15 metres in height were likely to be rare "once in 10,000 years" events. However, satellite imaging has in recent years confirmed that waves of up to 30 metres in height are much more common than mathematical probability theory would predict using a Rayleigh probability distribution of wave heights. In addition, pressure readings from buoys moored in the Gulf of Mexico at the time of Hurricane Katrina also indicate the presence of such large waves at the time of the storm. In fact, they seem to occur in all of the world's oceans many times every year. This has caused a re-examination of the reason for their existence, as well as reconsideration of the implications for ocean-going ship design.
Rogue waves are also known to occur on the inland Great Lakes, which are more like large inland seas. Perhaps most famously such inland freak waves are believed according to some reconstructions, to be responsible for the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in November 1975 (see below). However other causes have been advanced; the matter is far from settled.
A rogue waves is not the same as a tsunami. Tsunamis are mass displacement generated waves which propagate at high speed and are more or less unnoticeable in deep water; they only become dangerous as they approach the shoreline and do not present a threat to shipping (the only ships lost in the 2004 Asian tsunami were in port). A rogue wave, on the other hand, is a spatially and temporally localized event that most frequently occurs far out at sea.
Rogue waves, also known as freak waves, are relatively large and spontaneous ocean surface waves which can sink even large ships and ocean liners. In oceanography, they are more concisely defined as waves that are more than double the significant wave height (SWH), which is itself defined as the mean of the largest third of waves in a wave record.
Once thought to be only legendary, they are now known to be a natural ocean phenomenon, not rare, but rarely encountered. Anecdotal evidence from mariners' testimonies and damages inflicted on ships suggested they occurred; however, their scientific measurement was only positively confirmed following measurements of a rogue wave at the Draupner oil platform in the North Sea on January 1, 1995. During this event, minor damage was inflicted on the platform, confirming that the reading was valid.
In the course of the Project MaxWave, researchers from the GKSS Research Centre, using data collected by ESA satellites, identified a large number of radar signatures that may be evidence for rogue waves. Further research is underway to verify the method that translates the radar echoes into sea surface elevation.
Freak waves have been cited in the media as a likely source of the sudden, inexplicable disappearance of many ocean-going vessels. However, although this is a credible explanation for unexplained losses, there is to date little clear evidence supporting this hypothesis nor any cases where the cause has been confirmed, and the claim is contradicted by information held by Lloyd's Register. [1][2] One of the very few cases in which evidence exists that may indicate a freak wave incident is the 1978 loss of the freighter MS München, detailed below. In February 2000, a British oceanographic research vessel sailing in the Rockall Trough west of Scotland encountered the largest waves ever recorded by scientific instruments in the open ocean.
OCCURRANCE
The MaxWave project studied the ocean surface with radar over a 3-week period in 2001. They took 30,000 images each of a 10 x 5 km section of ocean in that time, resulting an a total imaged area of 1.5 million km². Giant waves were detected in 10 of these, or one per 150,000 km². A short-lived wave in a section of ocean this size is an extremely rare occurrence in its own right.[5]
CAUSES
The phenomenon of freak waves is still a matter of active research, so it is too early to say clearly what the most common causes are or whether they vary from place to place. The areas of highest predictable risk appear to be where a strong current runs counter to the primary direction of travel of the waves; the area near Cape Agulhas off the southern tip of Africa is one such area. However, since this thesis does not explain the existence of all waves that have been detected, several different mechanisms are likely, with localised variation. Suggested mechanisms for freak waves include the following:
Diffractive focusing by, perhaps, coast shape or seabed shape
Constructive interference — In this theory, several smaller wave trains meet in phase. Their crest heights combine to create a freak wave.[6]
Focusing by currents — Storm forced waves are driven into an opposing current. This results in shortening of wavelength, causing shoaling (i.e., increase in wave height), and oncoming wave trains to compress together into a rogue wave.[6]
Nonlinear effects — It seems possible to have a freak wave occur by natural, nonlinear processes from a random background of smaller waves.[7] In such a case, it is hypothesised, an unusual, unstable wave type may form which 'sucks' energy from other waves, growing to a near-vertical monster itself, before becoming too unstable and collapsing shortly after. One simple model for this is a wave equation known as the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLS), in which a normal and perfectly accountable (by the standard linear model) wave begins to 'soak' energy from the waves immediately fore and aft, reducing them to minor ripples compared to other waves. Such a monster, and the abyssal trough commonly seen before and after it, may last only for some minutes before either breaking, or reducing in size again. The NLS is only valid in deep water conditions, and in shallow water an alternative such as the Boussinesq equation is used.
Normal part of the wave spectrum — Rogue waves are not freaks at all but are part of normal wave generation process, albeit a rare extremity.[6]
Wind waves — While it is unlikely that wind alone can generate a rogue wave, its effect combined with other mechanisms may provide a fuller explanation of freak wave phenomena. As wind blows over the ocean, energy is transferred to the sea surface. Phillips and Miles (1957, J. Fl. Mech.) provide some insight into the problem, though it still remains a tricky one.
The spatio-temporal focussing seen in the NLS equation can also occur when the nonlinearity is removed. In this case, focussing is primarily due to different waves coming into phase, rather than any energy transfer processes. Further analysis of rogue waves using a fully nonlinear model by R.H. Gibbs (2005) brings this mode into question, as it is shown that a typical wavegroup focusses in such a way as to produce a significant wall of water, at the cost of a reduced height.
There are three categories of freak waves:
"Walls of water" travelling up to 10 km through the ocean
"Three Sisters", groups of three waves (Endeavour or Caledonian Star report March 2, 2001, 53°03′S 63°35′W)
Single, giant storm waves, building up to fourfold the storm's waves height and collapsing after some seconds (MS Bremen report Feb 22, 2001, 45°54′S 38°58′W)
A comprehensive paper describing and illustrating the ways that freak waves could form, complete with layman descriptions, photos and animations, can be found here.
A research group at the Umeå University, Sweden in August 2006 showed that normal stochastic wind driven waves, all of a sudden can give rise to monster waves. The nonlinear evolution of the instabilities was investigated by means of direct simulations of the time-dependent system of nonlinear equations.[8]
ENCOUNTERS
On the 10th of October 1903, RMS Etruria was only four hours out of New York when at 2.30 p.m. the ship was struck by a freak wave. The wave was reported to be at least 50 feet (15 meters) high and she struck the ship on the port side. The wave carried away part of the fore bridge and smashed the guardrail stanchions. There were a number of first-class passengers sitting in deck chairs close to the bridge and they caught the full force of the water. One passenger, a Canadian, was fatally injured and several other passengers were hurt, but luckily there were no more fatalities.
In 1933 in the North Pacific, the Navy oiler USS Ramapo encountered a huge wave. The crew triangulated its height at 112 feet (34 meters). [9]
In 1942 while carying 15,000 American troops 700 miles from Scotland during a gale, RMS Queen Mary was broadsided by a 28-meter wave and nearly capsized. Queen Mary listed briefly about 52 degrees before the ship slowly righted itself.
In 1966, the Italian cruise ship Michelangelo was steaming toward New York when a giant wave tore a hole in its superstructure, smashed heavy glass 80 feet (24 meters) above the waterline, and killed a crewman and two passengers.[9] The matter is related by Daniel Allen Butler in his book The Age of Cunard, and by Walter Ford Carter in No Greater Sacrifice, No Greater Love.
SS Edmund Fitzgerald was a lake freighter that sank suddenly during a gale storm on November 10, 1975, while on Lake Superior, on the U.S. and Canadian border. The ship went down without a distress signal in Canadian waters about 17 miles (15 nm; 27 km) from the entrance to Whitefish Bay (at 46°59.9′N 85°6.6′W). At the location of the wreck the water is 530 feet (162 m) deep. All 29 members of the crew perished. A coast guard report blamed water entry to the hatches, which gradually filled the hold, or alternatively errors in navigation or charting causing damage from running onto shoals. However, another nearby ship, the Anderson, was hit at a similar time by two rogue waves, and this appeared to coincide with the sinking around ten minutes later - or at least contributed to the sinking if the Edmund Fitzgerald was already in trouble as suggested. A Discovery Channel reconstruction pointed the finger towards freak waves as the cause. The matter is far from settled.
The Wilstar, a Norwegian tanker, suffered structural damage from a rogue wave in 1974. [9]
In October 1977, the tanker Stolt Surf ran into a rogue wave on a voyage across the Pacific from Singapore to Portland, and the engineer took photos of a wave higher than the 22-meter bridge deck. [10]
The six-year-old, 37,134-ton barge carrier MS München, lost at sea 1978. At 3am on 12 December she sent out a garbled Mayday message from the mid-Atlantic, but rescuers found only "a few bits of wreckage". This included an unlaunched lifeboat, stowed 20m above the water line, which had one of its attachment pins "twisted as though hit by an extreme force". The Maritime Court concluded that "bad weather had caused an unusual event". It is thought that a large wave knocked out the ship's controls (the bridge was sited forward), causing the ship to shift side-on to heavy seas, which eventually overwhelmed it. Although more than one wave was probably involved, this remains the most likely sinking due to a freak wave. [3]
Draupner wave (North Sea, 1995): first confirmed scientific evidence
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (North Atlantic, 1995), 29 meters, during bad weather in the North Atlantic.
The Master said it "came out of the darkness" and "looked like the White Cliffs of Dover." [4] (PDF) Newspaper reports at the time described the cruise liner as attempting to "surf" the near-vertical wave in order not to be sunk.
Bremen and Caledonian Star (same wave, South Atlantic, 2001)
Bridge windows on both ships smashed, 30 meters above sea level, and all power and instrumentation lost. No adverse currents exist in that part of the world to explain the wave. The First Officer of the Caledonian Star stated it was "just like a mountain, a wall of water coming against us." [5] (PDF)
Naval Research Laboratory ocean-floor pressure sensors detected a freak wave caused by Hurricane Ivan in the Gulf of Mexico, 2004. The wave was around 27.7 meters high from peak to trough, and around 200 meters long. [6]
Norwegian Dawn, (three waves in succession, off the coast of Georgia, 16 April 2005):
"The sea had actually calmed down when the [21 meter] wave seemed to come out of thin air... Our captain, who has 20 years on the job, said he never saw anything like it." media report
"The water exerted enough force to shear off the welds for the aluminum rail supports on the [ninth and tenth level] balconies of two cabins, allowing the teak balcony rails to break loose and crash into the cabin windows. The broken glass filling the drains compounded the water damage by allowing a large amount of water to enter the two cabins and damage the carpets in 61 other cabins. The ship’s operating at reduced speed when the waves hit probably limited the damage." National Transportation Safety Board report
Aleutian Ballad, (Bering Sea, 2005): from the television show "Deadliest Catch."
Norwegian Spirit, (off the coast of Tortola, January, 2006)
On December 6, 2006, the Picton Castle, a Tall Ship heading from Nova Scotia, Canada to The Bahamas, was hit by a wave which resulted in the death of a 26 Year old woman. Reports described this as a "rogue wave" or "unusually large", but no evidence was presented to suggest that this was a freak wave (ie: over 15-20 meters high) in the sense of this article. It seems from reports to have possibly been a larger than average but otherwise fairly normal storm wave. [7] [8] [9].
It has also been suggested that this type of waves may be responible for the loss of several low-flying aircraft, namely U.S. Coast Guard helicopters on Search and Rescue missions. [11]
Several sources (including those below) repeat the claim that around 200 large ships have been sunk in recent years by 'freak' waves. That claim is a myth.[2] There are a tiny number of cases in recent years where no obvious explanation has been found, but according to the Lloyd's Register-Fairplay casualty database, fire or poor maintenance are more likely causes. The claim first appeared in the terms of reference for the EU's Max Wave project in 2001, without any supporting evidence. It was phrased as "200 supertankers or containerships of 200m and over sunk in the past 20 years". According to Lloyd's Register, only 143 ships of this size were lost from 1981-2001. The claim achieved wider currency after it was picked up by the European Space Agency in its 2004 press release about freak waves observed from space (see below).
FREAK WAVES IN LITERATURE AND FILM
In Paul Gallico's 1969 novel The Poseidon Adventure, and in the 2006 film Poseidon, based on the novel, a rogue wave capsizes an ocean liner. (In the 1972 film, The Poseidon Adventure, the wave is described as a tsunami generated by a sub-sea earthquake).
Early in the 2000 movie The Perfect Storm, a "rogue wave" washes over the protagonists' fishing vessel, but does not sink the boat. It is merely treated as a bad omen of what is to come in the story. However, it is possible that the giant wave that finally sinks the boat is a similar rogue wave, only much larger.
Freak waves are a major theme in Clive Cussler's novel Polar Shift.
Stephen Colbert listed rogue waves in one edition of his Threat Down.
The Apocalypse by Tim Bowler also has freak waves crashing upon the island of Skaer.
