Departing about 15 minutes ahead of schedule, the Polaris got out ahead of nasty line of thunderstorms that hit roughly a half hour after her departure. The storm had dropped large hail and strong tornadoes over the central part of the state, causing widespread damage over a large area. Fortunately the cold waters of Lake Superior weakened it slightly but it still had enough power to down 2 trees on my block. While I didn’t go outside to take pictures during the storm (that would have been dumb) it was a very ominous green sky with a large shelf cloud at the front. Did go outside after the heavy stuff passed though and took photos of the back of the line (included at the end of the video). Didn’t hear about the cruise ship having any issues with the storm but it probably made a good story for the passengers!
The Viking Polaris along with her sister ship Octantis are the largest passenger ships to ever sail the Great Lakes. Measuring 672ft long and carrying 378 passengers in luxury suits along with around 250 crew, she’s a massive cruise ship by Lakes standards (although downright small by ocean standards). In addition to extremely luxurious accommodations and other more typical cruise ship accommodations, the vessel also features a full research laboratory and research crew. In her stern she carries a sizable fleet of small watercraft and zodiac boats, plus
a small submarine.
Completed in October 2022 the ship was designed to sail the Great Lakes and Antarctic waters. Just over a month after her launching she was hit by an estimated 50ft tall rouge wave in the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica, blowing windows out across the ship and killing one passenger, severely injuring 8 more, but fortunately did not sink the ship. The incident made headlines across the world. Since then she’s had better luck, her Great Lakes trips being huge successes that indicate a strong potential future for this type of vessel on the Lakes! I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing more of these gems sailing around!
24 июн 2024
