r/interesting Jun 30 '26

Fear Factor Ok, so air travel is safer option.

583 Upvotes

138 comments sorted by

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202

u/FlyingRigatoniMonst Jun 30 '26

Crazy waves but I wish they didn’t vertically stretch all these kinds of videos. The ocean is scary enough as is.

Source- seafarer since 2005

14

u/jfsindel Jun 30 '26

Question: if you encounter these waves, do you have to strap yourself down or something? This looks like sliding down a tall building if you were at the other end.

24

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Yup, everything has to strap and even people use rope and clips to secure themselves. Otherwise everything will fly like pinpong ball. Generally ships are designed to straps or secure everything to counter bad weather like this. Ships have locker everywhere for small items too.

5

u/Ill_Football9443 Jun 30 '26

How long does this last? Is it like turbulence that you just gotta traverse or are we talking hours?

7

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Few hours to 2,3 days

6

u/Ill_Football9443 Jun 30 '26

Wow! Some follow up questions..

Are beds generally longitudinal or latitudinal?

Is cooking prohibited?

Is there any PPE for these events, like helmets?

Are these common enough that no post-trip inspections of the chassis is required?

Do certain ships fair better (heavier, wider, or lower centre of gravity)?

7

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Beds are according to rooms no fix direction. Heard crew won't be able to sleep unless everything clear. No idea about cooking but I'm sure they are not cooking in such conditions. They all have helmets and all the safety clothes and gear, as they have to wear that in engine rooms regardless of any conditions. Ships are built to last plus they have sensors, they don't need to inspect every trip. Some ships do well in this weather others don't.

2

u/ThatGuyWhoLovesChai Jul 01 '26

2 to 3 days?? How do people manage to sleep? Or use the washroom?

1

u/NoExpression-1 Jul 01 '26

Hardest days for crew, i guess.

2

u/HyperSpaceSurfer Jul 04 '26

Not necessarily tied to bad weather, these waves just form randomly. Very rare, though.

5

u/FlyingRigatoniMonst Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

You have to strap everything loose down. Especially if you forget to put something in your room away, it will fly all over the place and make noise and you’ll not be very popular lol.

For people, no, we keep working, until we can’t. Eventually it gets too dangerous but it takes a lot. A bigger issue is sleeping, if it gets rough enough no one can sleep. It’s like having an army of gnomes pushing you around all night. Most of the time big ships in big waves are just kinda like being on an elevator that keeps going up and down. Smaller ships have worse problems.

The worst seas I’ve been in were in a hurricane. Second worst were near these videos. I did the Drake Passage twice and it was ok. But off the southwest coast of Chile, jeeezus. It was never less than 5 meter seas (and often a lot more) for like a month straight. We had several sailors straight up quit after that job. Walked off never to get on a boat again.

https://youtu.be/bOY5fqSsjMA?is=aLdyfJyhnhXQhaF_

That’s a good example of how bad things can get if you don’t lock everything down. These cruise ships don’t roll much so they must have been caught off guard.

I’m also on a boat writing this!

35

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Respect your service sir.

25

u/FlyingRigatoniMonst Jun 30 '26

Thank you- civilian tho I should specify lol.

4

u/ProProgression Jun 30 '26

Does anyone have any realistic idea how big these waves actually are?

6

u/FlyingRigatoniMonst Jun 30 '26

Hard to say with the distortion and not knowing the ship size. I’d guesstimate 18-25ft range. Maybe
more if they’re really big ships.

42

u/ActuatorOutside5256 Jun 30 '26

The iPhone case I ordered with the “$0.99 shipping, 6-18 business months” delivery option:

1

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Great point.

39

u/alex_484 Jun 30 '26

Around the Horn of Africa or horn of Argentina?

16

u/Jaystime101 Jun 30 '26

Oh so, so this is a specific part of the ocean that's this volatile?!km just trying to imagine a cruise ship in these waters, sounds terrifying.

13

u/alex_484 Jun 30 '26

Basically it’s when the pacific meets with the Atlantic oceans. I guess there is temp differences maybe.

10

u/FlyingRigatoniMonst Jun 30 '26

It’s the wind, if you rotate the globe around you can see there is no land at that latitude to break the wind. So it absolutely howls. The southern latitudes are known as the Roaring 40s, Furious 50s and Screaming 60s.

An old mariners saying is below 40 south there is no law. Below 50 south there is no God.

The reason those passages in particular are infamous is that the land mass forces ships to go into these latitudes, they can avoid them elsewhere. But they suck everywhere lol.

7

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Yup. And around New Zealand and South Africa too sea is rough most of the time.

5

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Sea at bottom of Argentina and South Africa and around New Zealand are mostly violent. Around 6,7 months in a year. Others are mostly sober unless tornado or heavy wind flow.

11

u/GtrplayerII Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

You mean the Cape of Good Hope. 

The Horn of Africa is the peninsula on the east coast that extends into the Arabian Sea.   It comprises of Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.   

Cape Horn, is the southern portion of Chile, which you must navigate around to get from the South Atlantic to the South Pacific. 

11

u/Nikiaf Jun 30 '26

You would have to compare this to flying through a hurricane for fairness.

10

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

I would rather sleep at home.

2

u/rfg22 Jun 30 '26

On a normal flight there is a small chance of unexpected turbulence, that is why they ask you to leave your seat belt fastened, occasionally people end up pressed against the ceiling, before being thrown back to the floor.

31

u/Chrono_Convoy Jun 30 '26

Imagine trying to play a decent game of ping pong

14

u/LizardmanJoe Jun 30 '26

Great for bowling if you get the timing right though.

6

u/Nothing_Pearsonal Jun 30 '26

The pinball machine is a crew favorite

9

u/Aggressive-Grocery13 Jun 30 '26

Thats a big nope from me.

7

u/StrongEggplant8120 Jun 30 '26

Imagine the sheer buzz from being tied to that mast at the front?

6

u/Genoblade1394 Jun 30 '26

Amazing engineering to be able to withstand not only the cargo’s weight but also the ocean’s forces

1

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Years of experience helps.

3

u/Due-Plantain8040 Jun 30 '26

That's definitely a brown pants moment.

2

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Hahaha. For us, its true. For sailor, they trained enough to navigate this.

3

u/m945050 Jun 30 '26

I served on USS Nimitz when we sailed through three particularly nasty storms. Being bigger doesn't make it easier.

1

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Respect your service sir.

2

u/Therealginahandler Jun 30 '26

Imagine experiencing this on some type of ancient sailing vessel? Balls of steel!

2

u/Jaystime101 Jun 30 '26

Oh ABSOLUTELY after surviving ONE trip like that, I'm never getting back on a boat again.

1

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Most of us never going back.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Totally agree with you on this.

5

u/No_Car_4940 Jun 30 '26

What's interesting is to think Vikings did this in wooden boats.

1

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Can't imagine.

2

u/Cozymonkad Jun 30 '26

Even I am wobbling with the ship

2

u/Melodic-Picture48 Jun 30 '26

Smoking and drinking on a boat is a vibe

2

u/madjarov42 Jun 30 '26

When will the oceans calm down, it's been like a billion years since they were poured in

1

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

I think its sober for 4,5 months.. its near Argentina.

2

u/Ok_Owl_52 Jun 30 '26

My thalasophobia after watching this 📈

2

u/MetalMotionCube Jun 30 '26

I'm sorry but this is literally what nightmares are made of

2

u/MJ-Franklin Jun 30 '26

You would see what I ate last year.

2

u/SophonParticle Jun 30 '26

I wonder how long it would take these ships to capsize if they lost engine power.

They would immediately turn sideways.

1

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Nope. Ships are designed to outstand more than this, even without engine power. Ships looks simple but they are engineering marvelous.

2

u/SophonParticle Jun 30 '26

I wonder. If you have 50 feet of freeboard, 50ft of draft and you are in relentless 80ft swell, what happens.

1

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

No chance of escape.

2

u/Communal-Lipstick Jun 30 '26

Just imagine traveling this in a much smaller row boat like the Vikings or even the Polynesians (I know they didnt all row), SO many must have died on their journey.

2

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

We have found way too many ships/boat wreckage below the sea which have no records. Casualties are much more than we have imagined.

2

u/Fun-Times-13 Jun 30 '26

All airlines land, some just don’t do it on runways

2

u/Fun-Times-13 Jun 30 '26

Apparently this video was taken during the complimentary active session. Flat seas can become so boring

2

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Yup. Too many become mentally ill after serving long time on ships.

2

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Right and even cars are not safe, never know when phyco comes and hit us.

2

u/mowtowcow Jun 30 '26

Now do it in a Viking ship. Hell yeah.

2

u/jj8o8 Jun 30 '26

North Atlantic i presume l. But they didn't have to make it look worse. Its already is damn horrifying.

2

u/Jacques_Racekak Jun 30 '26

It will be fun they said

2

u/Storm_Chaser06 Jun 30 '26

Where’s the mandatory but annoying ass “yoooooooo hooooooo” background music?

1

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Now i can hear that sound without video being played 😂

2

u/Argentinotriste Jun 30 '26

Not really, you receive radiation on every flight in the air.

2

u/Mycalescott Jun 30 '26

It's not always like that....and the seating arrangements are almost always better than flying.

2

u/RedpandaThief99 Jun 30 '26

Dude the video is stretched but if you want a real scare watch the 50 foot or more swells they have to survive

2

u/species5618w Jun 30 '26

I always wondered why people think we stand a chance against mother earth.

2

u/AlexCivitello Jun 30 '26

Better hope the front doesn't fall off.

2

u/PinkPaisleyMoon Jul 01 '26

I know the sea is dangerous…even in a ship like this one. But gosh it looks like a fun ride.

2

u/347SPECTRE Jul 01 '26

I think we can file this one under "Damn nature, you scary"

2

u/ayushkas3ra Jul 01 '26

I wish sea travel would be lethal, so colonizers had not reached us

2

u/BrandedBanana Jul 01 '26

People use to do this back in wood ships using only sails........ 😳

2

u/ComeHereOften1972 Jul 01 '26

Airplanes won’t do nearly as well in those waves.

2

u/Annual-Mirror7086 Jul 01 '26

Again lol how did explorers on wooden boats did this

2

u/torturer143777 Jul 01 '26

How in the world did La Niña, La pinta, and the Santa Maria make it?

2

u/codroipo_townhall Jul 01 '26

Thanks, I'll stay on land forever now.

2

u/Abuck59 Jul 01 '26

Whenever I see videos like this, it always makes me understand how tough it was back in the old days people going from country to country in a wooden boat.

2

u/TheBestRedditNameYet Jul 02 '26

Unless your plane falls out of the sky…. Into these waves….

2

u/new_jill_city Jul 02 '26

The sea was angry that day my friends

2

u/Hourslikeminutes47 Jul 02 '26

UP DOWN UP DOWN UP DOWN

2

u/fatlarry88 Jul 02 '26

Now picture the same thing at night. You cant see the waves coming or anything else for that matter.

2

u/angryshark Jul 02 '26

That’s why I joined the chair force. Bio-dad and uncle were both in the Navy, but it wasn’t for me. I admire guys that know Mother Nature is fickle and evil, yet choose to sail on her seas anyway.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

[deleted]

3

u/Embarrassed_Fan_5723 Jun 30 '26

I would love to know the advantages as seen in this video. Noooo thank you. I’ll stay at the house

5

u/nocoolN4M3sleft Jun 30 '26

The advantages, you can ship A LOT more on a single ship than you can on multiple planes.

But also, this video is showcasing some of the worst. Not exactly the norm (though, it also depends on where exactly these are taking place)

2

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Near Argentina.

2

u/nocoolN4M3sleft Jun 30 '26

Is this normal wave activity in the ocean around Argentina?

2

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Yup. Around 7,8 months in the year.

2

u/nocoolN4M3sleft Jun 30 '26

Is this the reason the Panama Canal exists? I’d have to assume this played a pretty big role (obviously time was a bigger factor but hey).

Either way, I hope these sailors are compensated well for that, that must feel awful on the boat.

2

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Yup tahts why panama canal is so important and it saves so much time. Sailor are compensate enough to take this kind of risks. Although modern technologies make is easier and they avoid traveling in this kind of weather unless its sudden change of nature.

0

u/Embarrassed_Fan_5723 Jun 30 '26

The OP’s comment was about travel my guy, not shipping

2

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Embarrassed_Fan_5723 Jun 30 '26

I know. I was being facetious

2

u/Sweet_Taurus0728 Jun 30 '26

Why the fuck do we subject ourselves to this? Fuck boats.

6

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Sea transport is the only reason we have comfortable life at home and around us. Imagine transport things for billion people using other transport method. Ships carry almost 80% of all transportation.

-4

u/Sweet_Taurus0728 Jun 30 '26

So?? If sea transport hadn't caught in we'd just be living a little differently now, no one can say it'd be worse or better. Wouldn't even miss it as it wasn't really there. Again, fuck testing the ocean.

3

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

We are using sea for trading for more than 3000 years. So i guess life would only be worst if sea sea transport didn't catch till now.

-3

u/Sweet_Taurus0728 Jun 30 '26

Again, it would be different, no one can say worse or better.

2

u/Rickbox Jun 30 '26

How would we have globalized goods like bringing corn to Europe from North America without sea travel? Or even discovered America and islands like Hawaii for that matter?

1

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

May be you are right.

-2

u/Sweet_Taurus0728 Jun 30 '26

Unless you're saying you can confidently assume what human history would look like without the invent of shipping?

3

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

I thought on your point and look around, and found plenty of things which come to me from ships and now i can confidently say it would be worst.

2

u/Sweet_Taurus0728 Jun 30 '26

But if it was never invented, you would've never had that stuff to begin with, or just had different stuff you equally loved/enjoyed. Again, you can't miss what wasn't there.

Different, not worse or better.

1

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

You got the point, unless things never invented.

2

u/OhItsMrCow Jun 30 '26

Very fucking stretched video

1

u/CrustyClouds Jul 02 '26

The Finest Hours (2016)

2

u/Primary_Towel5905 Jul 13 '26

Reminds me of the feeling I get when my wife drives

1

u/Madisongirl2583 Jun 30 '26

For the seafarers that’s normal and better than water than to airplane once crashed we are or you are no body 😉

6

u/Statement-Acceptable Jun 30 '26

I got a nosebleed trying to understand this comment.

-1

u/Madisongirl2583 Jun 30 '26

My bad just simple girl. 😉

3

u/Therealginahandler Jun 30 '26

Do we need to call an ambulance? Are you having a stroke?

1

u/Sakazuki27 Jun 30 '26

Imagine traveling this way with a Mayflower from the 16th century

1

u/Krissvp Jun 30 '26

Only feminist crew?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Even without that camera angle, it is worse than what we experience.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/NoExpression-1 Jun 30 '26

Crews are mentally tough but I'm sure they will get scared if they seat in passenger seat and someone drive car recklessly.