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Draupner wave
Sounding graph of the wave; the spike in the center is the peak elevation of the wave
Rogue wave
Date	1 January 1995
Location	Draupner platform
Height	25.6 m (84 ft)
Peak elevation	18.5 m (61 ft)
Casualties	0

The Draupner wave, also known as the New Year's wave or Draupner freak wave, was a rare freak wave that was the first to be detected by a measuring instrument. The wave, determined to be 25.6 m (84 ft) in height, was recorded on 1 January 1995 at Unit E of the Draupner platform, a gas pipeline support complex located in the North Sea about 160 km (100 miles) southwest from the southern tip of Norway.

Background

The Draupner platform rig, located in the Norwegian North Sea and 16/11 160 km (99 mi) offshore from Norway, was built to withstand a calculated 1-in-10,000-years wave with a predicted height of 20 m (64 ft) and was fitted with state-of-the-art sensors, including a laser rangefinder wave recorder on the platform's underside.

Accompanying storm

On 31 December, a low pressure system was located over Sweden, with a north-western motion. This system produced large waves over the North Sea, although none would be of significance. Early the next day, a polar low would form over the Norwegian portion of the North Sea, which produced heavy winds that would set up the formation of the Draupner wave.

Discovery

The wave itself was first detected at around 3:00 p.m. UTC on 1 January 1995 by a downward-pointing laser beam located on the Draupner S platform. The laser beam recorded a rogue wave with a maximum wave height of 25.6 m (84 ft). Peak elevation above still water level was 18.5 m (61 ft). The reading was confirmed by the other sensors. The platform sustained minor damage in the event. In the area, the SWH at the time was about 12 m (39 ft), so the Draupner wave was more than twice as tall and steep as its neighbors, with characteristics that fell outside any known wave model. The wave caused enormous interest in the scientific community.

Legacy

The platform sustained minor damage in the event. In the area, the SWH at the time was about 12 m (39 ft), so the Draupner wave was more than twice as tall and steep as its neighbors, with characteristics that fell outside any known wave model. The wave caused enormous interest in the scientific community. The wave, one of the largest ever documented in the Atlantic Ocean, helped solidify the initial speculation that rogue waves did naturally occur, and as a result the wave would be heavily studied in the years following the event.

See also

• List of rogue waves

Notes and footnotes

Notes

1. The location of the recording was 58°11′19.30″N 2°28′0.00″E / 58.1886944°N 2.4666667°E / 58.1886944; 2.4666667

Footnotes

1. McAllister, M. L.; Draycott, S.; Adcock, T. a. A.; Taylor, P. H.; Bremer, T. S. van den (February 2019). "Laboratory recreation of the Draupner wave and the role of breaking in crossing seas". Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 860: 767–786. doi:10.1017/jfm.2018.886. ISSN 0022-1120.
2. "Most extreme "rogue wave" ever recorded in the Pacific Ocean detailed in new study". Earth.com. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
3. Strogatz, Steven (2023-06-14). "What Causes Giant Rogue Waves?". Quanta Magazine. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
4. ^ "The last word: Terrors of the sea". TheWeek. 27 September 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
5. Hansteen, O.E.; Jostad, H.P.; Tjelta, T.I. (2003). "Observed platform response to a "monster" wave". In Myrvoll, Frank (ed.). Field measurements in geomechanics: proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium on Field Measurements in Geomechanics : 15-18 September, 2003, Oslo, Norway. Taylor & Francis. p. 73. ISBN 978-90-5809-602-9. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
6. Cavaleri et al. 2016, p. 6062.
7. Cavaleri et al. 2016, p. 6070.
8. ^ Bjarne Røsjø, Kjell Hauge (2011-11-08). "Proof: Monster Waves are real". ScienceNordic. Archived from the original on 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2016-08-23. "Draupner E had only been operating in the North Sea for around half a year, when a huge wave struck the platform like a hammer. When we first saw the data, we were convinced it had to be a technological error," says Per Sparrevik. He is the head of the underwater technology, instrumentation, and monitoring at the Norwegian NGI ... but the data were not wrong. When NGI looked over the measurements and calculated the effect of the wave that had hit the platform, the conclusion was clear: The wave that struck the unmanned platform Draupner E on 1 January 1995 was indeed extreme.
9. ^ Susan Casey (2010). The Wave: In the Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean. Doubleday Canada. ISBN 978-0-385-66667-1.
10. Petricevic, Ivan (2024-09-17). "The Most Extreme 'Rogue Wave' Ever Recorded in the Pacific Ocean — Curiosmos". Curisosmos. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
11. "Scientists Recreate 25-Year Old Freak Wave in a Laboratory for the First Time". VICE. 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2025-01-04.

Sources

• Cavaleri, Luigi; Barbariol, Francesco; Benetazzo, Alvise; Bertotti, Luciana (August 2016). "The Draupner wave: A fresh look and the emerging view". ResearchGate. Journal of Geophysical Research. Retrieved January 4, 2024.

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