LISTEN

Engineers at the Massachusetts Insititute of Technology have developed a new tool that may be able to give sailors a two-to-three-minute warning of an incoming rogue wave, allowing enough of a window to halt operations before the wave strikes.

The algorithm sifts through data from surrounding waves to spot clusters that have the potential to develop into a rogue wave. Depending on a wave group’s length and height, the algorithm computes a probability that the group will turn into a rogue wave within the next few minutes.

Read more from MIT.

Have you listened to this article via the audio player above?

If so, send us your feedback around what we can do to improve this feature or further develop it. If not, check it out and let us know what you think via email or on social media.

Jessica Hathaway is the former editor in chief of National Fisherman.

Join the Conversation