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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.”