The Mediterranean Sea as seen from space.
The waters of the Mediterranean Sea mix with Atlantic waters at the Strait of Gibralter. The ship was close enough to that point to be hit by a rouge wave from the Atlantic. That interface between the two bodies of water, at the strait, should be monitored with tsunami buoys. The seas at the strait are always a little tricky because of wave dynamics, even on a good day. But, just off the strait is a large terrestrial 'drop off' to the Atlantic Ocean floor. That would accommodate significant water coming across the Atlantic to enter the strait unexpectedly and with significant volume of water. The strait is approximately where the North Atlantic Drift and Canary Currents meet as well, so changes in water volume there could effect the waters in the Mediterranean if there were abnormal wave heights.
Just a thought. There is no reason to believe this can't happen again, the vortexes haven't abated yet and even when they do there will be residual effects for awhile.
All major oceans are like big bath tubs. They have water that sloshes around and sometimes becomes unwieldy. There is nothing that can be done about it.
The 'winds' over the oceans have picked up 'over time' in the last few years. The upper tropospheric vortexes contribute to it.
There is such a ? thing ? as 'the air-water interface.' It is the physics of Earth's troposphere.
That is what has brought strong winds, along with storms, over the USA this past winter. When winds are 'consistently' high, there will be a trend in rising 'wave height.' That is what is occurring over the Atlantic and it is my belief that is what contributed to the wave in early March that hit the cruise ship off of France.
The captains of any ships crossing the Atlantic should be aware of this trend and perhaps chose different routes to the same destination where this phenomena is not occurring.
Greek and Cypriot officials say 26-foot waves have crashed into a cruise ship with nearly 2,000 people on board off France, smashing glass windshields and killing two passengers.
(Getty Images)
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Mar 04, 2010
A passenger on the cruise ship that was slammed by deadly, massive waves in the Mediterranean is calling the ordeal "terrifying."
Two people were killed in the incident on Wednesday and 14 were injured.
Claude Cremex, 73, of Marseille, France tells the Associated Press that he was resting in his cabin because of the rough seas when the nearly 30-foot walls of water hit the 1,790-passenger ship Louis Majesty.
Cremex says the waves broke windows in a restaurant and flooded passenger cabins.
Our colleagues at Cruise Log have more here.
(Posted by Doug Stanglin)
