MS Stolt Surf - Consequence

Consequence

The evidence in the photographs, showing abnormally large waves out in the deep ocean, where science, using the linear model had predicted that such extreme waves were extremely rare, to the extent that a 30 metre crest to trough wave would occur only once every 10,000 years. The proof gathered by the Stolt Surf joined a growing body of evidence that the linear model did not adequately explain all of the types of waves that could be encountered. The loss of the MS München in a storm in the North Atlantic the following year was attributed to an 'unknown event', but was later considered to be one of the first losses that could be confidently attributed to a freak wave. Despite this, it was not until the separate encounters by the cruise liners Bremen and Caledonian Star in the South Atlantic, that the possibility of nonlinear causes of freak waves was seriously considered. The resulting theories helped to explain the possible causes of the freak waves encountered by the Stolt Surf.