Where Are the World’s Most Dangerous Seas?

From the Drake Passage to the Bermuda Triangle, these waters have a reputation for death and destruction.

IN DECEMBER 2004, SAN FRANCISCO business owner John Dorning embarked on his first journey aboard the iconic Queen Elizabeth 2. Dorning was making the crossing from Southampton, England, to New York City. It was their first full day at sea. “Sometime during the afternoon, the weather suddenly started getting really rough,” says Dorning.

Within minutes, gale-force winds were whipping through the air. They created massive waves, causing the bow of the ship to pitch upward and then slam back down. A series of loud booms accompanied each pounding, the sounds almost deafening. The entire ship was shuddering and vibrating. Dorning, who spent his teenage years working on clamming boats off the coast of Long Island, rarely got seasick. This was an exception.

“First, my stomach started feeling queasy,” he says. “Then I noticed this little layer of cold sweat on my face.” About the same time, Dorning became aware of the ship’s barf bags, discreetly placed beside the elevators and stairways. “Once I started looking, I saw them everywhere,” he says.

The Atlantic Ocean between Southampton and New York City is a notoriously rough stretch of sea, especially during winter months, when heavy winds and rains can seemingly whip up in an instant. But despite this being the final resting place for the RMS Titanic—which sank in 1912 about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland—most marine professionals wouldn’t deem it to be the world’s most dangerous body of water. More likely candidates would be the infamous Drake Passage, a deep waterway that lies between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula, the seas around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, and those off Cape Horn—the southernmost headland of South America’s Tierra del Fuego archipelago.

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