Antarctic Reflections
More info: https://www.vikingcruises.com/expeditions/ships/viking-polaris.html
Viking refers to the two 2022 ships as purpose-built expedition ships designed to explore the world’s most remote destinations in comfort and immerse you in these majestic, untamed regions.
One of many differences is the Antarctic "expedition," although there is a published itinerary, must be flexible with its destinations due to the major weather variables and uncertain conditions of planned destination visits.
Weather conditions of wind and waves, limited visibility, flow and packing of small ice floats, and precipitation.
Wind and waves have a very distinct effect on the Zodiac rubber rafts used to transport passengers from ship to shore and back.
Wind pushes ice floats constantly. Several days the results ended with floats jamming the landing sites, preventing boats from landing. Each time Polaris moved to a different destination to see if it were "landable." TVs in staterooms had a "Tracker" channel where we could see the path of Polaris. How about this:?
We estimate over five consecutive days we received 12 inches.
Another difference of this Antarctic "expedition" is the two-dozen plus young graduate students conducting onboard laboratories and scientific experiments. There is an international treaty to keep this seventh and last undisturbed continent undeveloped and preserved. There has been almost no exploration or research of the land and surrounding water. Interested passengers were invited to participate in water and data collection and do hands on work in laboratories. Informal seminars were being constantly conducted in a half-dozen locations on the ship.
The Viking Polaris was sailing toward Ushuaia, Argentina, on
Tuesday night when the wave hit the ship, authorities said.
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.
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.
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."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Rogue wave' leaves one dead, four injured on Antarctica Viking
cruise
2 Topeka couples on cruise cut short by rogue wave
that killed passenger
Two
Topeka couples were among those on a cruise to Antarctica cut short first by an
accident, then by a rogue wave that took a passenger’s life.
Published: Dec. 2, 2022 at
10:18 PM CST|Updated: 19
hours ago
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Two Topeka couples
were among those on a cruise cut short first by an accident, then by a rogue
wave that took a passenger’s life.
Pam and Tom Trusdale planned the trip of a
lifetime to Antarctica.
“We were going to get to do a submarine
ride, we were going to get to do kayaking,” Pam said. Tom added he was excited
that the cruise was involved in several environmental studies, adding an
educational aspect to their journey.
But then, disaster struck. They were off the
coast of Antarctica, en route to the submarine excursion. One second, Pam was
watching penguins from their Zodiac vessel, the next was chaos.
“We heard an explosion in the forward area
right in front of Pam and it threw a woman directly across from her up in the
air, and then the gentleman right next to her literally flew up in the air and
went into the water,” Tom said.
Tom helped grab the man from the water
while Pam assisted the woman.
“This woman sustained a very bad leg
injury,” Tom said.
She needed medical attention beyond what
the ship could provide, so the Captain canceled the rest of the Antarctic
itinerary and turned back toward Argentina, charting the course for the next
unplanned experience. It happened in area of rough waters in the Drake Passage,
where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet between Antarctica and the tip of
Argentina.
State Board of Education member Ann Mah
and her husband, Shawnee Co. Treasurer Larry Mah, were in the area of the ship that
felt the brunt of it. Tuesday night, they’d just fallen asleep when a rogue
wave slammed into the ship.
“(It was) just like your whole house got
shook really hard. I mean, it was just a thud,” Ann said. “It woke us both up
and we heard the furniture crashing over and we were glad we were laying down.”
Ann captured this photo showing a row of
windows two levels below their cabin broken out. She said it makes you realize
how powerful the wave was.
One person in those cabins was killed, and
four other passengers were injured.
“You just have to feel for the family of
the person that died,” Ann said. “You don’t expect to go on the cruise of a
lifetime, the adventure of a lifetime to see a part of the world so few people
see and then not come back.”
With the families in their thoughts, both
couples are grateful to have experienced what they did.
“You know, we got there, we got to see
it,” Pam said.
“It’s so just magnificent and it just
kinda takes your breath way,” Tom said.
Both couples say Viking, the company which
operates the ship, was very sensitive and helpful to everyone. Both also
already have trips booked for next year
Authorities continue investigating what
went wrong with the Zodiac vessel the Trusdales were riding.
https://www.wibw.com/2022/12/03/2-topeka-couples-cruise-cut-short-by-rogue-wave-that-killed-passenger/
Topekans rocked by blast and rogue wave during Antarctic cruise.
They share their story.
Sun, December 4, 2022 at 6:02 AM7 min
read
Tom and Pam
Trusdale were recently on a heavy-duty inflatable boat when an explosion
occurred, badly breaking a woman's leg. They were taking a trip to Antarctica.
One second, Pam Trusdale was sitting in a heavy-duty inflatable
boat happily taking video of penguins in Antarctica.
The next, the Topeka woman was thrown into the air by an
explosion.
Two other passengers also went airborne after the blast beneath
the boat's floor.
One woman suffered a badly broken leg.
The other passenger spent perhaps two minutes in the water
before he was pulled back onto the boat.
Trusdale, her husband, Tom, and the boat's other occupants
subsequently learned that the Viking Polaris, the ship on
which they were taking a cruise, wasn't capable of providing the medical
attention the woman needed.
So the cruise ship headed north through gale-force winds and
rough waters toward South America.
En route, it was struck by a giant rogue wave, which
killed one passenger and injured four others.
Trusdale shared that account of her experiences Friday in a
telephone interview with The Topeka Capital-Journal from Ushuaia, Argentina,
where she and her husband were waiting to return to the United States.
"We've had a little bit of excitement that we hadn't
anticipated," she said.
'Trip of a lifetime'
 |
Pam Trusdale
took this photo of penguins during a trip to Antarctica.
The trip to Antarctica was
the eighth on Viking Cruise Lines for the Trusdales, who are retired and have
been married for 10 years.
"We've seen a lot of the world," Pam Trusdale said.
She is the widow of Col. Mike O'Toole, wing commander of the
190th Air Refueling Wing of the Kansas Air National Guard, who died in 2003 in
a plane crash on takeoff from a private airport in northeast Shawnee County.
Pam Trusdale and their adult daughter, Shannon O'Toole Mason,
survived after being hospitalized for injuries suffered in that crash.
After her husband died, Pam reconnected with Tom Trusdale, her
high school sweetheart.
More:Larry and Ann Mah on trip as rescuers try to get injured woman
to Argentina from Antarctica
They've enjoyed numerous adventures, including climbing Africa's
Mount Kilimanjaro.
Pam Trusdale said she had been particularly excited about the
couple's cruise to Antarctica.
The Trusdales booked passage on the Viking Polaris, identified
on Viking Cruise Lines' website as
a 665-foot-long cruise ship that was built this year and has the capacity to
house 256 crew members and 378 guests.
"It was kind of our 'trip of a lifetime,'" Pam
Trusdale said.
Though the Trusdales hadn't known it, others on the Antarctica
cruise included Shawnee County Treasurer Larry Mah and his wife, Ann Mah, a
member of the Kansas State Board of Education.
The couples spent time together on the cruise, though the Mahs
weren't with the Trusdales on the excursion that turned dangerous.
'We dragged him in on his
back'
Tom and Pam
Trusdale planned to ride in this small yellow submarine during a recent trip to
Antarctica, but an explosion on a boat prevented that.
The Trusdales were among three couples who made plans to ride
Monday morning in a small, yellow submarine. Neither of the other couples were
from Kansas.
They all got into a heavy-duty inflatable boat known as a
Zodiac.
The weather was nice for Antarctica, with overcast skies and temperatures
around 30 degrees, as the Zodiac's pilot took the three couples to the area
where they were to board the submarine, Pam Trusdale said.
They learned they would have to wait 20 minutes, and the driver
started "cruising around," she said.
At the time, Pam Trusdale was sitting at the front of the
Zodiac, with her husband next to her.
As she was holding onto a rope attached to the boat with one
hand and taking cell phone video of penguins with the other, she said, a
"pretty significant explosion" took place beneath the floor between
the front two passengers.
More: Topeka native Phil Norris explores Antarctica
'It could have been so much
worse'
The woman sitting directly across from Trusdale took the brunt
of the impact, suffering a badly broken leg.
Another passenger on that side was thrown from the boat.
Pam Trusdale managed to hold onto her phone. She and her husband
crossed over to the other side and helped to stop the boat. Tom Trusdale,
another male passenger and the Zodiac pilot pulled the man back into the Zodiac
on his back, Pam Trusdale said.
"Tom knew exactly what to do," she said. "I just
stayed on the floor and waited for help."
Meanwhile, a woman who was sitting on the opposite side of the
boat moved over to the side the Trusdales had been sitting on to make sure it
remained balanced.
"We couldn't have been with better people, because everyone
was calm under pressure," Pam Trusdale said. "Everything was under
control."
The Zodiac pilot responded calmly and professionally, and Viking
got them all the help they needed immediately, she said.
'It was just so scary'
Pam Trusdale was wearing an ankle brace Friday because of minor
injuries suffered in the accident.
"It just hurts to walk, because I bruised my heel,"
she said. "My left leg is worse than my right."
Pam Trusdale said while she feels lucky to be alive, she never
felt the experience was life-threatening.
"It was just scary," she said. "It could have
been so much worse."
The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.
A rogue wave hit the cruise
ship during a storm
Tom and Pam
Trusdale encountered an explosion Monday on a heavy-duty, inflatable boat like
this.
Ann Mah wrote on her Facebook page about the blast and its
aftermath.
"They couldn’t helicopter (the woman) out in the weather,
and she needs attention the boat can’t provide," she said. "So we are
headed back to Ushuaia, Argentina."
The Drake passage, the body of water that lies between South
America's Cape Horn, Chile, and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica,
was mentioned in a message Larry Mah put Tuesday on his Facebook page.
"Evacuation options are limited, and the weather is
deteriorating," he said. "So, we are returning to Ushuaia (Argentina)
at top speed. The Drake Channel has gale force winds (30-60 MPH) with waves
15-20 feet high. The next 600 miles is going to be a very rough ride!!"
The cruise ship was bound for Ushuaia Tuesday when it was struck
during a storm by a giant "rogue wave," which killed one person and
injured four, USA Today reported.
"The rogue wave hit the side of the ship where our cabin
is, but it mainly impacted Deck 2 at the front," Trusdale said. "We
were on Deck 4 at the back."
Ann Mah said she and her husband were in bed in their room on
Deck 4 at the front when the rogue wave struck.
"I understand water came in on 3, but nothing like 2,"
she said. "We had furniture get knocked over in our room, but no
damage."
Viking released a statement confirming one of its guests had
died.
"We have notified the guest's family and shared our deepest
sympathies," it said, adding that four other passengers were treated for
injuries that weren't life-threatening by the ship's onboard doctor and medical
staff.
The ship "sustained limited damage during the
incident," and arrived in Ushuaia on Wednesday afternoon, Viking added.
Trusdale said she learned afterward that if they hadn't been on
the Polaris, which has "all the latest technology," the damage from
the storm could have been much worse.
The damage from the storm caused Viking Cruise Lines to abandon
its initial plans to cruise along the Chilean coast for a few days, and to
instead drop off all its passengers at Ushuaia.
'This won't slow us down'
Still, Pam Trusdale said Viking Cruise Lines has shown the "utmost
professionalism" and done a good job of coping with what happened.
She said she trusts the company to provide a refund for the
trip.
More:KU-based team conducts research in Antarctica
Pam Trusdale added that she and her husband plan to make
separate future trips with Viking to Norway and the Mekong Delta, after which
they'll have traveled with that cruise line to every continent.
"This won't slow us down," she said.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at 785-213-5934 or threnchir@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Topeka
Capital-Journal: Explosion, deadly rogue wave endured by Topekans on Antarctic
trip
https://www.yahoo.com/news/topekans-rocked-blast-rogue-wave-120213198.html
We had a great trip to Antarctica. Not what we expected, but then we did not know what to expect. But it did exceed our undefined expectations - HUH? Am I making sense. You be the judge.
Our next scheduled cruise will be October 20-30, 2023 with our church on a reflection of the Second and Third Journeys of the apostle Paul.
Comments
Post a Comment