Students OK after large wave hits ship

Four days after a Semester at Sea ship was damaged in the
Pacific Ocean by a 50-foot wave, all 990 people on board, including
three UCLA students, are doing fine.

The 591-foot Motor Vessel Explorer was en route to Korea from
Vancouver, British Columbia when the wave broke through windows,
temporarily disabling three of its four engines and causing damage
to some of the ship’s navigational equipment, said Woodrow
Freese, operations manager for Semester at Sea. Freese said the
Explorer also sustained cosmetic damage to its library, classrooms
and some of its public areas.

A U.S. Coast Guard ship and three aircraft were dispatched to
the disabled vessel where it suffered the storm damage, which was
about 650 miles south of Adak, Alaska, according to a press
release. The Explorer maintained good communication with the Coast
Guard.

Despite initial reports of injuries to crew members, Freese said
Friday that no one aboard the ship had been injured.

The Explorer has a medical staff of two doctors and two
nurses.

“Everyone’s doing OK,” said Eva Walthers,
counselor for UCLA EXPO Internship and Study Abroad Services, who
had been in contact with the three UCLA students on board.

Classes resumed on Thursday ““ the day after the ship
suffered the damage.

The Explorer was on its way to Hawaii on Friday for repairs and
for further assessment of the damage sustained by the ship.

According to the latest update to the Semester at Sea program
Web site, the Explorer is estimated to arrive in Honolulu at noon
PST today.

“The mood on board is very positive,” the update
said.

Semester at Sea is a 30-year-old study abroad program that takes
students on a three-month voyage involving shipboard coursework,
field research and international travel.

The program’s itineraries have featured such diverse
destinations as Singapore, Brazil and Kenya. Semester at Sea is
based out of the University of Pittsburgh.

The damage sustained by the ship will not disrupt the spring
2005 voyage, as Semester at Sea’s program directors
unanimously voted Friday in favor of continuing the program, Freese
said.

“We’re doing everything we can to keep passengers
safe and get them to Hawaii to assess the future of the
program,” he said.

Kate Herschman, a 2004 UCLA communications graduate and a
participant in Semester at Sea’s fall 2002 program, said she
always felt secure while on the voyage.

“I never felt threatened,” Herschman said. As for
the sea conditions, she said that during her voyage there was
“one rough day.” But “it never fazed me at
all,” she said.

“(Semester at Sea) was one of the best experiences of my
life.”