Perhaps the first thing that needs to be clarified in order to begin to understand the mysterious sinking of the Bayesian, with 6 confirmed dead and one missing, at the Porticello port is what the natural phenomenon of the waterspout is that, according to testimonies, seems to have caused it.
A phenomenon known since antiquity and not uncommon in the Mediterranean, including the Greek seas, made ancient people consider it a demon and Aristophanes used it in his work (“Frogs”). Aristotle had observed and explained it, while scientists today warn that climate change will increase its frequency.
Can a waterspout sink a superyacht?
Once the waterspout is explained, the question arises whether the unexpected strike of a strong waterspout (more simply, a sea tornado) is enough to make a sturdy 56-meter vessel disappear from the surface of the sea?
How then did the luxurious superyacht of British tycoon Mike Linds, reconstructed just in 2020, equipped with the tallest mast in the world (72m made of aluminum with rapid shortening capability) and fitted with the best navigation and weather alert systems, sink within seconds, especially when an experienced captain, an excellent connoisseur of the Mediterranean waters, had been hired to manage it?
And how can the first reaction of the New Zealand captain, who, hospitalized on Monday with very minor injuries, said “we didn’t see it coming,” stand? It is certain that in his initial statement, which lasted over two hours and was part of the investigations carried out by the Italian authorities, 51-year-old Jamies Catfield has said much more.
But for now, the question focuses on the not so rare meteorological phenomenon that erupted early Monday morning near Palermo.
The Economist explains in a detailed article that “these high-intensity columns of water can be extremely dangerous, especially for vessels caught in their path.”
Waterspouts grow out of powerful thunderstorms, many of which have battered Italy this summer. Just how dangerous are they? 👇
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) August 21, 2024
The same article mentions a very interesting statistic: According to the Safety & Shipping Review of the insurance company Allianz for 2023, “extreme weather events are responsible for about 20% of total losses of large vessels worldwide each year.”
What is a waterspout and how does it occur?
Waterspouts are vertical vortices of condensed water vapor protruding from the base of cumulonimbus clouds and interacting with a water surface.
We say waterspout and not tornado because although they share many similarities with tornadoes, that is, the vortices that occur over land, most of the time waterspouts have different mechanisms of formation.
Tornadoes are generated by violent thunderstorms, from cumulonimbus clouds (the largest and most dangerous type of cloud) when specific weather conditions prevail, such as significant instability, meaning a sudden drop in temperature and strong or stormy winds lower in the troposphere.
The ideal conditions for their formation are initially weak winds at low levels close to the water’s surface, especially after a rainfall has ended. There are also waterspouts that form just like tornadoes, and they are the strongest ones, termed “mesocyclonic waterspouts,” though they are the rarest in Greece and the Mediterranean region.
Can they be easily detected?
This is a question that is more difficult to answer. The Italian meteorological service recorded strong winds and significant lightning activity at the time the superyacht capsized.
Scientific opinions converge on the fact that the phenomenon gives little warning time.
Why are they related to climate change?
To explain why the phenomenon is important for the planet, The Economist notes that while waterspouts are natural phenomena, their increasing frequency due to climate change, responsible for abrupt and severe weather changes, could create rising risks for maritime activities and coastal communities.
And it is summarized that:
* Waterspouts pose significant risks for maritime activities due to their strong winds, which can exceed 100 mph, form rapidly, and give little warning
* Additionally, their unpredictable nature makes them particularly dangerous phenomena for maritime operations, especially in coastal and open areas
Etmology and what Aristotle said in “Meteorology”
A tornado or siphon is a violently swirling column of air in contact with the ground, either hanging from a cumulonimbus cloud or located beneath one, and often (but not always) visible as a funnel-shaped cloud. Tornadoes appear both over land, thus called land spouts (tornadoes), and over sea, thus called sea spouts or waterspouts, and they are identical phenomena.
Etymologically, the word siphon came from the ancient Greek word σίφων, meaning pipe. However, soon this term was also given to the meteorological phenomenon they saw resembling a pipe connecting the clouds with the ground or the sea. Land spouts and sea spouts were known in antiquity.
Essentially, all classical philosophers tried to interpret these phenomena. In fact, Aristotle around 350 BC in his “Meteorology” gave a complete description of the siphon, especially the successive stages of it, from its creation to its final stage of depletion, providing the following description:
“The tornado arises from the failure of a newly formed cyclone to detach from its cloud. Due to the resistance created by the vortex, it emerges when the spiral descends towards the earth carrying along a cloud that cannot disconnect. When it blows in a straight line it carries along everything that comes from its circular motion and overturns and traps whatever it encounters.”
Source: thetoc.gr