A woman has died after a massive wave hit a cruise ship in the Antarctic. Four other passengers were injured when a huge wall of water struck the Viking Polaris cruise ship as it sailed towards the port of Ushuaia in southern Argentina on an Antarctic cruise.
The Mirror reports that the 62-year-old woman was understood to have been hit by broken glass when the wave broke cabin windows during a storm on Tuesday (November 29). Limited damage was suffered by the ship which arrived in Ushuaia, 1,926 miles (3,100km) south of Buenos Aires, the next day.
Viking said in statement: "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." Neither the statement nor the Argentine Naval Prefecture identified the dead woman or her hometown.
Viking called it a "rogue wave incident" and said the four other passengers' injuries were non-life threatening. The cruise ship was anchored near Ushuaia, where a federal court has opened a case to determine what happened during the fatal storm.
The company indicated on its website that to explore remote regions of the world they have "two purpose-built, state-of-the-art small expedition-class ships: Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris". The Polaris was built in 2022 has capacity for 378 passengers and 256 crew members and is described as having "luxury facilities".
Elsewhere, rescuers plucked a man from freezing seas in the dark 15 hours after he fell overboard from a cruise ship. James Michael Grimes has no clue how he ended up in the sea but insists he wasn't drunk despite celebrating winning an air guitar competition on the vessel.
The 28-year-old says he trod water after he plunged into the sea in the Gulf of Mexico while on a Thanksgiving cruise with 18 members of his family last month. In an interview with Good Morning America, (GMA) he said he 'couldn't really say' how much he consumed.
He said he had been enjoying a few drinks with his sister at an onboard bar, but did not return after going to the toilet. A tanker then spotted him flailing in the water. He survived in the water for 15 hours, dodging sharks and jelly fish and surviving on bamboo until he was rescued.
Footage of the rescue in the Gulf of Mexico was released by the US Coast Guard. It shows the stricken man trying, but often failing to keep his head above the choppy water off the coast of Louisiana. Rescuers eventually hauled him out using a basket suspended from a helicopter.
The Coast Guard said the man, who fell from Carnival Valorcruise ship, was treated for shock, hypothermia and dehydration. He was flown to hospital in New Orleans.
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