Re: what happened to this ship?
Below is the story on the "semester at sea" ship from 2005. That is not the ship in the video.
Jinx
Tuesday, February 1, 2005
Story last updated at 11:24 AM on Tuesday, February 1, 2005
Stricken ship makes unexpected port call in Honolulu after storm
By The Associated Press
HONOLULU - A passenger ship with about 700 college students aboard limped into Honolulu Harbor five days after a huge wave tossed the vessel around in heavy seas, damaging three of its four engines and injuring two crew members.
One of the students on board was Marissa Hanneman of Blue Springs.
She told her mother she plans to go out for pizza and make a trip to Wal-Mart during her four days in Hawaii. Hanneman is a junior at the University of Missouri-Columbia and a graduate of St. Mary's High School.
Hanneman's mother, Betsy, spoke to her daughter Monday night, less than a week after the semester at sea vessel was hit by waves during a severe storm in the Pacific Ocean.
"She couldn't believe how hard it it," Betsy said. "They were in total darkness for an hour."
Marissa relayed stories to her mom about seeing a man on a satellite phone with a compass standing on the bow of the ship. The wave hit about 6 a.m., just as Marissa was getting ready for class.
Students on the ship, Betsy said, sat in life jackets for seven hours waiting for an emergency exit from the boat.
"She was excited to see land," Betsy said.
The 50-foot wave broke furniture and computers on the ship. Video footage showed students sitting on the floor and sliding back and forth, ramming each other into the wall as waves rolled the ship.
Marissa also told her mother that a number of students had cuts and bruises from objects thrown around the ship. A lot of the damage to the ship came from objects and furniture not being bolted down.
The students, crew and staff will spend about four days in Hawaii before heading to China. The first two scheduled ports, Korea and Japan, have been canceled.
"Most people have been happy it's finally sunny, and are glad to be going to Hawaii," Becca Leonard, a 21-year-old junior at the University of Southern California, said Monday after the ship pulled into port.
The 591-foot Explorer, with 990 people aboard, was about 650 miles south of Adak, Alaska, when the wave hit early Wednesday morning. Adak is in the Aleutian Islands about 1,300 miles southwest of Anchorage.
Semester at Sea is a University of Pittsburgh-based study-abroad program for undergraduate students intended to give students a more global perspective.
Students from about 250 colleges are on board. The 100-day voyage began Jan. 18 in Vancouver.
Woodrow Freese, operations manager for the Institute for Shipboard Education, which operates Semester at Sea, has said no passengers reported injuries, and none wanted to depart once the ship reached port. One crew member suffered a broken leg and another a broken arm, he said.
The ship had headed for Midway Island after the incident but opted for the longer route to Honolulu for repairs, the Coast Guard said.
The vessel will be inspected by the Coast Guard, naval architects and Marine engineers. The Coast Guard will ultimately decide whether the vessel is seaworthy, said Jim Lawrence, spokesman for the Explorer.
"I think some kids were really pretty traumatized, but maybe a day and half of calm weather will have changed their minds. It remains to be seen," Leonard's mother, Susan Popik, said in a telephone interview from her home in Redwood City, Calif.
Examiner reporter Stephanie Howard contributed to this article.
