Frightening reason ships never pass underneath South America

With some 71% of the Earth's surface being covered in water, it's no surprise that it's still a popular way to travel. Whether it be cruising around the Mediterranean or sending cargo across the shipping lanes, the deep blue sea is full of boats.

There's one part of the map that you'll notice is strangely devoid of ships, with some questioning why you never see them passing underneath South America. Is it pirates or some sort of second Bermuda Triangle that’s putting people off from sailing there?

If you've seen those TikTok videos set to The Wellermen's "Hoist the Colours", you'll know we're warned the ocean is a scary place. There's a frightening reason ships down go under South America, with a particularly dangerous stretch of water known as the Drake Passage being dubbed the 'the world's most treacherous sea route.'

The Drake Passage is one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the world (Education Images / Contributor / Getty)

The Drake Passage is named after English explorer and privateer Sir Francis Drake, who successfully navigated these waters in 1577. The British Empire recruited Drake to break Spanish control over South America, but he bit off more than he bargained for when he accidentally sailed there.

Ships that want to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific typically take the Panama Canal, but before it was opened in 1914, they had to sail through the Drake Passage.

It only takes 48 hours to get through the Drake Passage these days, although those who've made it claim it feels like the longest journey of their life. Everything has to be stuck down, while there are stories about people strapping themselves into bed.

Measuring 500 miles long, 620 miles wide, and 11,150 feet deep (on average), the Drake Passage has claimed over 800 ships and 20,000 souls...that we know about.

The Drake Passage is particularly dangerous because of the turbulent Antarctic Circumpolar Current that flows through it and meets no resistance from any land. Waves regularly reach up to 40 feet high, and as it's where the Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern Oceans meet, sailors have dubbed it 'the most powerful convergence of seas.'

Cyclones frequently ravage the region, and even a look at weather systems on a map shows that no other area on the planet is attacked like the Drake Passage.

Some waves are said to have hit 66ft high, with portholes on ships apparently looking like washing machines as you're tossed around.

You're advised to take sea sickness tablets before going into the Drake Passage, while even experienced explorer Charles Darwin felt sick when going into this stretch of water.

Most shockingly is the team of athletes that successfully rowed across the Drake Passage in 2019. The six explorers did what many thought to be impossible, but their adventures were told in the 2020 documentary, The Impossible Row.

If all of this wasn't enough to contend with, the English schooner known as Jenny is thought to be a ghost ship that's haunting the Drake Passage.

Even though it's cheaper, quicker, and more efficient to take the Panama Canal, plenty of ships try to navigate the Drake Passage every year. May God have mercy on their souls.