Draupner wave
The Draupner wave or New Year's wave was the first rogue wave to be detected by a measuring instrument, occurring at the Draupner platform in the North Sea off the coast of Norway on 1 January 1995. In an area with significant wave height of approximately, a freak wave with a maximum wave height of occurred. Prior to that measurement, no instrument-recorded evidence for rogue waves existed – only anecdotal evidence provided by those who had encountered them at sea, although ships such as the British weather ship Weather Reporter had recorded very large waves that did not differ quite enough from their neighbors to be considered rogue.
Minor damage was inflicted on the platform during this event, confirming the validity of the reading made by a downward-pointing laser rangefinder.
