Cruise Bruise Blog
January 2, 2009
January 2, 2008 - A Cruise Bruise Exclusive Report
The Science Behind Mystery Overboard Passengers And Crew

Whenever a passenger goes overboard on a cruise ship, there is flurry of pro-cruise industry posting across the web. Those postings lean heavily to the notion that it is simply impossible to "fall" overboard on a cruise ship, unless the person is tossed from the ship, jumps over the railing or is clowning around, doing something rather dangerous, such as sitting atop or climbing on the railing. The postings also point to drugs and/or alcohol being involved.

It wasn't until I was adding a new case today of a woman who was of age 64, went over the railing of a cruise ship, fell into the water that was only 65 degrees at the time,  in her bath robe, bobbed helplessly in the sea for two hours, with sharks approaching before being rescued, that another theory, with science to back it, came to mind.

I know I have peaked your interest in the amazing story of this senior citizen surviving, against all odds. I will tell you about that story, when I explain how science proves, people really do just fall accidentally overboard.

First, let me explain to you how I knew that science could explain this theory, then I will show you the science.

While staying at our beachfront condo, I had an incident where I was nearly sucked over the railing on our balcony. There was a combination of factors that made this possible, and only luck would make the difference between my being here today to write the story, or ending up in the pool over 80 feet below.

The condo was set up, much like a cruise ship stateroom with balcony. There were sliding glass doors between the balcony and the livingroom. The other side of the livingroom was a narrow opening into a hallway, that lead to the kitchen, the master bedroom and a separate bathroom, all with doors off that main hallway. At the end of the hallway was the front door of the condo.

It was a sunny day, with rather calm winds, and I was on the balcony in the morning sipping my morning brew, when I saw a ship off the horizon. I stood up and looked through my binoculars to see the ship, which turned out to be a shrimping boat. I was NOT leaning over the railing, nor leaning against the railing, simply standing behind it.

It was a very quiet morning, peaceful and I was intently focusing on the shrimp boat, watching the crew work on deck. There was a knock on the front door, which as you remember is at the other end of the condo, directly behind where I was standing on the balcony, at the other end of a narrow hallway. I did not hear that knock on the door, but my husband, at that end of the condo, did hear it, and went to the door to see who it was. Looking through the peep hole in the door, he saw it was the maid arriving and opened the door. That is where everything went wrong.

When he opened the door, it created a wind tunnel that blew right through the condo, without warning. All of sudden I found myself being blown against the railing, nearly losing my balance. I dropped the binoculars and hung on for dear life. That too, turned out to be the wrong thing to do. I will explain later. But, suffice it to say, at the moment my heart was pounding so hard I thought I was going to have a heart attack, and I was shaken to the core after nearly falling over that railing.

While it puzzled me, I knew it had something to do with opening that door, but didn't know the science behind it. That science would play out many more times while we were at the condo, but I was prepared for it from the first time on. You would think, because it was not a windy day, that it would be safe on the balcony. Actually, we found that was untrue.

There were extenuating circumstances that made that particular balcony more dangerous than many others. First, the balcony was on the eighth floor of the building. Second, the condo was a corner unit that had two sides facing the wind. Third, the condo building had only a small space between it, and the next condo building.

On a normal day, with no wind, if I stuck my head over the balcony on the side of the balcony facing the other building, I could have easily been sucked over the balcony railing.  I knew early on that was a mistake, and never did it again. The wind, though not really windy at all, would be pushed through the narrow opening of perhaps 30 feet between these two 12 story high buildings.

When that happens, it creates a suction that comes out the other end like a freight train. The higher you are in the building, the stronger that wind is. At ground level, it is hardly noticeable at all. Many times I was in the outdoor spa, at the edge of that opening and hardly noticed any wind at all. But, immediately upon going upstairs, found the wind upstairs was very strong. On the eighth floor, the wind is wickedly strong, in circumstances you would not normally expect.

It is these varying combination of factors, that can lead one passenger to say it is impossible to simply fall overboard, while the person floating in the sea, knows differently.

Where the cabin is located on a ship, plays a huge role in how much wind passengers will see on their balcony. While a passenger in the middle of the ship, on a lower deck may see no wind at all, a passenger with a suite at the top, at the stern or bow of the ship, could experience the force of a hurricane wind, on a rather calm day.

Obviously, if it is a windy day, the captain will have outdoor areas of the ship roped off, so that passengers do not get blown overboard and passengers would avoid the balcony. But, that is protecting them from the danger, with the least amount of science governing it, and the most amount of common sense that should prevent the accidental overboard.

The Science Behind The Mystery

The science behind this mysterious, and deadly phenomenon is called porosity. It accounts for a phenomenon known as a 'wind tunnel'


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