YOGYAKARTA - Drake Passage or the Drake Strait, is a well-known waters between Cape Horn in South America and the South Shetland Islands in Antarctica. The swift current, freezing water, strong winds, and enormous waves make this road popular as one of the most dangerous sea routes in the world and feared.

Get To Know Drake Passage

Measuring a width of approximately 800 km and a length of 1,000 km, Drake Passage or the Drake Line is the shortest distance from the Antarctic mainland to other mainland. Its very harsh water is one of the reasons why humans only set foot in Antarctica in the 19th century.

The name of this route is taken from the name of the 16th century British explorer Sir Francis Drake, who is known for traveling the world between 1577 and 1580.

To achieve this achievement, as reported by IFL Science, he and his fleet passed through the Magellanic Strait, a path across steep islands and icebergs at the tip of South America.

Although Drake himself did not have time to navigate the road, his expedition directed England if there were open waters in southern South America, so sailing around the world could be done by boat.

But in Spanish, this route is known as Mar de Hoces, taken from the name of the Spanish navigator Francisco de Hoces, who discovered the waters in 1525 while sailing through the Magellanic Strait.

Just in 1616, Willem Schouten of Dutch East India Company chaired the first crew to sail around Cape Horn and pass through the Drake Strait.

Some of the world's strongest ocean currents flow through the Drake Strait because they do not encounter obstacles from any land, thus allowing water flow to release and create enormous forces.

Similarly, strong winds are allowed to flow freely for thousands of km without hitting land at this latitude, causing severe storms and large waves.

Several reports passing through Drake Passage tell the waves reaching 25 m, approximately as high as the 8-story building.

Testimony Of People Who Have Crossed Drake Passage

On Christmas Day 2019, 6 brave crew members became the first to row across the track in a 13-day battle against the weather.

"It was quite scary. In conclusion, we lost quite a lot of weight and lost quite a bit of sleep," said Colin OBrady, one of the 6 men on the ship, after completing the expedition.

Today, a lot of people are carrying out an adventure-packed expedition across the Drake Line, especially when traveling to Antarctica. Big and modern ships make expeditions much easier than centuries ago.

" Crossing the Drake Line is an entry price for leaving for Antarctica. Antarctica's peace and calm is balanced with turbulence and Drake's drama. Both are two sides of the same currency: You won't get one without the other. Drake's situation lies between bad and scary, depending on the weather god, but every moment is valuable," said Lyndon File, manager of the G Adventures tour company offering an expedition to Antarctica.

"I feel like a dirty shirt in a washing machine with a cycle of 36 hours. I haven't had time to fall ill due to drunk travel. But this expedition is a real test," added media division manager G Adventures Kyle Jordan.

Talking about the sea, it's a good idea that you also need to Bataut Laut Teritrial Negara Indonesia as an insight that will be useful someday.

So after knowing the most dangerous sea route in the world, see other interesting news on VOI.ID, it's time to revolutionize news!


The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)