Hazard spot
Strait of Messina: Strong current and cross seas
Strait of Messina: Two seas at different levels exchange water here, creating eddies and current lines. Timing follows the tide, not breakfast.
- Cause
- Strong current and cross seas
- Main season
- all year
- Position
- 38° 12,0' N 015° 36,0' E
On the map
The map shows this spot. You can pan, zoom and click the other spots.
Strait of Messina: how the place works
Two seas with different levels exchange water here, producing currents of up to five knots that reverse every six hours. Whirlpools and tide rips stand at the edges, ferries cross every few minutes, and the north to south traffic runs through.
Strait of Messina: what breaks there
The case is the crossing against the ferry line in a current, and being set off the planned course. Small boats under engine cannot make headway against the stream in places and are set backwards into the traffic.
Strait of Messina: what this means for your policy
Check the liability limit, as in every narrows with commercial traffic. And settle whether the policy has a minimum engine power or an engine requirement: in currents like this a pure sailing boat with no working engine is a different risk.
Read this in full: What has to be inspected afterwardsCruising range
This spot lies in the cruising range the calculator lists under this step: EU inland waters
Calculate a premium for this cruising rangeNearby
And what applies right now?
This page shows what holds at a spot at any time. Whether an official warning is out for it this minute is on the warning map, by your position and updated hourly.
Open the warning map