American woman killed by broken glass after ROGUE WAVE hits Antarctic cruise ship heading for Argentina
USHUAIA, ARGENTINA: A US woman was killed after a massive wave struck Viking Polaris cruise ship as it was headed toward an Argentinian port. Four others were also injured on the luxury $13k-a-trip liner that was heading towards southern Argentina's port of Ushuaia.
On November 30, a monster wave hit the Antarctic cruise ship that was sailing towards Ushuaia. The young cruise ship, only two months old, was on its journey from Amsterdam to reach the port in Argentina where Antarctic expeditions begin, reports the Daily Mail.
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According to Daily Mail, a Viking Cruise company representative said in a statement that while they were sailing, there was "a rogue wave incident", and according to the Argentine Naval Prefecture, an unidentified 62-year-old American woman died after being hit with a broken glass when the cabin window was hit by the monster wave.
The Viking Cruise company stated, "It is with great sadness that we confirmed a guest passed away following the incident. We have notified the guest's family and shared our deepest sympathies."
Local media reports said there was no further possibility that the ship would capsize. Suffering minor damages, the ship arrived in Ushuaia the next day after the incident. Ushuaia is a port located 1,926 miles south of Buenos Aires.
"It was just sudden, shocking, we didn't know if we could get our gear ready for abandoning ship," a couple from North Carolina told WRAL News. The couple who were passengers onboard thought at first that an iceberg may have hit the ship but the deadly monster wave was triggered by an arctic storm.
The Viking Cruise company on its website say that for the purpose of exploring the world's remote areas, they have “two purpose-built, state-of-the-art small expedition-class ships: Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris.” The luxurious Viking Polaris on which the incident took place is a vessel built in 2022 that has lavish facilities providing a capacity for 378 passengers and 256 crew members.
The wave hit the Deck 2 front backboard area with tremendous force and damaged it. Another wave crashed into the passenger cabin immediately after the glass panes were broken.
A federal court near Ushuaia where the ship is anchored currently has opened a case to investigate the incident.