Waves in the Drake Passage crashed against the hull of the Ocean Explorer ship, tossing passengers around.
Passengers called it “a 48-hour rollercoaster.”
A blogger said that waves towered 30 to 40 feet high. In the video shared online, you see the sliding across the floor, and the wall-mounted television swinging from side to side.
The cruise company that operates the Ocean Explorer, Quark Expeditions, said that the Drake Passage is “among the bodies of water most prone to powerful forces of weather.” The phenomenon even has its own name - the “Drake Shake.”
The passage is between Argentina and Antarctica and the company assures passengers that the ship was “built to navigate such waters.”
The blogger, Lesley Anne Murphy, said the crew told passengers to stay in their cabins one of the afternoons, and that the two days were scary, the trip to Antarctica was"100000000% worth it!"
No one was hurt during the Drake Passage encounter.
© 2025 Cox Media Group
Sign Up
