MS München was a German LASH carrier of the Hapag-Lloyd line that sank with all 28 hands for unknown reasons in a severe North Atlantic storm in December 1978.

The most accepted theory is that one or more rogue waves hit München and damaged her, so that she drifted for 33 hours with a list of 50 degrees without electricity or propulsion.

He reported bad weather and some damage to München to his colleague Heinz Löhmann aboard MS Caribe, a German cruise ship 2,400 nautical miles (4,440 km) away.

Around three hours later (03:10-03:20), SOS calls were received by the Greek Panamax freighter Marion, which relayed it to the Soviet passenger ship Mariya Yermolova and the German tug boat Titan.

At 17:30 on 12 December, international search and rescue operations were initiated and co-ordinated throughout[1] by HM Coastguard at Land's End, Cornwall.

The initial search requested by HMCG was by a Royal Air Force Hawker Siddeley Nimrod maritime reconnaissance aircraft, co-ordinated by SRCC RAF Mount Batten.

Between 17:00 and 19:14, ten weak Mayday calls were received by the US Naval Station Rota, Spain at regular intervals, mentioning "28 persons on board".

Lands End CG provided the search planning and areas to be covered and appointed the salvage tug Smit Rotterdam as Onscene Commander co-ordinating the activities of eventually more than 100 ships and also the 16 aircraft taking part all now temporarily based in the Azores.

The following day, 15 December, a British Nimrod patrol aircraft discovered two orange objects shaped like buoys at 44°48′N 24°12′W / 44.800°N 24.200°W / 44.800; -24.200 and the salvage tug Titan recovered a second life raft.

On 16 February 1979, the car transporter Don Carlos salvaged the damaged starboard-side lifeboat of München, the last object discovered from her.

With the existence of rogue waves then considered so statistically unlikely as to be near impossible, the investigation finally concluded that the severe weather had somehow created an 'unusual event' that had led to the sinking of München.

[2][3][4] As the science behind rogue waves was explored and more fully understood, it was accepted that not only did they exist, but that it was possible that they could occur in the deep ocean, such as in the North Atlantic.

Whilst ploughing through the storm on the night of 12 December, she was suddenly faced with a wall of water, between 80 and 100 feet (24 and 30 m) high, looming out of the dark.

The loss of München was featured in an edition of the BBC documentary series Horizon entitled "Freak Wave," which was first shown on 14 November 2002.

It decided the sellers must bear the risk of loss when they fail to give "prompt notice" that the shipment has been dispatched (see FOB).

Without "prompt notice" that the shipment has been sent, the buyers are denied the opportunity to protect their goods, for example by obtaining insurance, against the risk of any loss, damage or theft.