Mediterrenean Freak Waves ?

[Hazir]

Just came accross an article on the webpage of De Telegraaf here that extremely high waves hitting a cruise ship on its way from Marseille (F) to Barcelona (E) caused the death of 2 passengers and caused some casualties.

I'm really surprised about this, I hadn't heard any news about earth quakes in the area. Anybody has any idea as to how this was possible?

[agamemnus]

Jesus is coming!

[ar81]

Aerosubmarine UFO's traffic...??

[EyeKhan]

Rogue Waves are a (relatively) common phenomenon in the oceans. This is the first I've heard of them in the Med.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_wave

Rogue waves (also known as freak waves, monster waves, killer waves, and extreme waves) are relatively large and spontaneous ocean surface waves that are a threat even to large ships and ocean liners.[1] In oceanography, they are more precisely defined as waves whose height is more than twice the significant wave height (SWH), which is itself defined as the mean of the largest third of waves in a wave record. Therefore rogue waves are not necessarily the biggest waves found at sea; they are, rather, surprisingly large waves for a given sea state. "Rogue waves are not tsunamis, which are set in motion by earthquakes [and] travel at high speed, building up as they approach the shore. Rogue waves seem to occur in deep water or where a number of physical factors such as strong winds and fast currents converge. This may have a focusing effect, which can cause a number of waves to join together."[1]

[Hazir]

Here's the BBC item on the topic.

[Dreadnaught]

Two killed? Wow. They must have been fallen far/into something within the ship, as it says their bodies are being returned to shore.