By Donna Tunney From examiner.com

A rogue wave struck the MSC Divina cruise ship Nov. 26 as the ship sailed between Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, TravelMole reports. The 136,000 gross registered ton ship, which carries 3,500 people and is owned by MSC Cruises, is based in Miami. The travel site reports two people were slightly injured when the wave, height unknown, damaged a porthole cabin. Porthole staterooms typically are in the lower decks of a cruise ship.

“The safety and wellbeing of guests and crew are MSC Cruises’ number one priority, and onboard technicians immediately sealed the damaged porthole,” the cruise line in a statement. “As a further precaution, MSC Cruises has given alternative cabins to the guests from the affected cabin and those adjacent to it.” No other damage to MSC Divina was reported and the ship continued on its way.

Rogue waves, according to the National Ocean Service, are those greater than twice the size of surrounding waves, are very unpredictable, and often come unexpectedly from directions other than prevailing wind and waves. Most reports of extreme storm waves say they look like “walls of water.” They are often steep-sided with unusually deep troughs.

Other cruise ships, cargo and scientific vessels have been affected by rogue waves over the years. In 2014, a passenger aboard the British-based cruise ship MS Marco Polo was killed after the ship was hit by a “freak wave during adverse sea conditions” as it made its way into the English Channel.

The ship was en route from the Azores to its home port in Tilbury, England, and it was carrying 735 passengers and 349 crew members, the cruise line said. The passengers were primarily British. The wave smashed a window in a dining venue.

In 2001, two cruise ships – the Bremen and the Caledonian Star – had their bridge windows smashed by waves estimated to be 30 metres (98 feet) tall in the South Atlantic. And in 2000, the British oceanographic research vessel, the RRS Discovery, sailing in the Rockall Trough west of Scotland encountered the waves up to 95 feet.

IMAGE: The wave damaged a porthole cabin. MSC Cruises

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