McClellandtown student safe after ship damaged at sea
After five days aboard a ship damaged by a 50-foot wave in the North Pacific Ocean, Daron Christopher of McClellandtown is safe in Hawaii. “We were elated to hear from him,’ said Dave Christopher. “We had a phone call late Saturday by satellite phone and it was muffled. He said ‘I’m sure you’re aware we had a storm and I’m OK.’ He called us last evening (Monday) after they sailed into port. He’s a little disappointed that they won’t be going to Korea or Japan, but he said this is a once-in-lifetime experience.’
A 2003 graduate of Albert Gallatin High School, Daron, 19, is the son of Dave and Sharon Christopher, both fourth-grade teachers at George Plava Elementary School in the Albert Gallatin School District. Daron is a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh where he is majoring in communications and political science.
Daron is participating in Pitt’s Semester at Sea, an around-the-world, comparative, study-abroad program that began Jan. 18 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is scheduled to end May 28 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The Semester at Sea attracted national attention last Wednesday when the 591-foot vessel, the Explorer, became temporarily disabled after a 50-foot wave hit it in rough seas, breaking windows and damaging the ship’s controls as it traveled about 650 miles south of the Aleutian Islands.
Coast Guard vessels and aircraft were dispatched from Alaska and Hawaii to help the ship, which operated for a time on just one of its four engines and could do little more than keep the bow headed into heavy seas using emergency steering.
Associated Press reported the ship, which included about 700 college students from 250 colleges, reached Honolulu Monday. The ship had headed for Midway Island after the incident but opted for the longer route to Honolulu for repairs, according to the Coast Guard and is to remain in Hawaii for several days before heading for China. The Coast Guard, naval architects and Marine engineers will inspect the vessel but the Coast Guard will ultimately decide if it is seaworthy.
After the Herald-Standard reported Daron’s story last week, Christopher said his family received many phone calls with “overwhelming support and compassion.’
Grateful, Christopher said, “We have been blessed.’
The Christophers also shared a detailed e-mail that Daron sent explaining the events that happened aboard the ship on Jan. 27:
“It can usually be rather rocky at night and I’ve gotten used to taping up my dresser drawers before I go to bed so that they don’t slam all night. This particular night felt rockier than usual and my room began to fall apart around me, like a scene out of ‘Close Encounters of the third Kind.’ My glass table was across the room. My mattress slid clear off and books were everywhere. My roommate Matt came back to the room around 3 a.m. with pictures he took on his digital camera of the damage on the ship – the windows or our school store had shattered, the library was in ruins, and general chaos had broken out everywhere. At about 5 a.m. (I could be wrong about times) the captain’s assistant came on the intercom, waking nobody, since it was impossible even for Rip Van Winkle to sleep through the crash. He announced that all members of the community were to don our life jackets and remain in our cabins. In light of the pictures falling off our walls, we decided we were safer off in the hall where there were less things to fall on us.
“After about a half hour of violent crashes and confusion, the ‘Voice’ came back on the intercom, sounding rather panicked, and announced that all occupants of decks two through four were to evacuate up to the fifth deck. The sun was slowly rising, but the walls were shaking all around us. As we made our way up the steps, I noticed how many of the students were crying and seemed truly terrified. A few students kept joking and even brought some video cameras along, but administrators yelled at them for not acting seriously. A group a few feet ahead of me held hands and had a prayer circle.
“As we made our way up, we were all stuffed within the confines of a few small corridors, anxiously awaiting any word of what was happening. At one point all of the males in the hall were instructed to stand up and move ahead. At this point, I thought maybe we were being sent to the back of the ship so the women and children (many professors and staff have their families aboard) could make it to the lifeboats easier. We never got to that point thankfully, but we remained crammed together in a small hallway for over six hours, uncertain of what was happening. Bowls of bread and fruits were circulated but there was seemingly hardly enough to get to everyone in the circumstances.
“In the end, what we eventually learned had happened was that a giant wave had soared over the ship and crashed through the windows of the ship’s bridge, flooding the control room and circuiting out our navigational abilities and our engines, leaving us stranded for several hours. We also lost all phone and Internet lines. Eventually the coast guard made their way out to us via airplanes to help guide us. We had wasted so much fuel trying to make it through the storm that it was now impossible for us to complete our goal of crossing the Pacific. We were forced to try to make a run for the nearest land (still over 800 miles away), which was Midway Island in Hawaii. According to rumors, of course. Word spread fast through the ship as everyone speculated what was to happen to our voyage. It went without saying that there was no class to be held that day. The ship was in ruins practically.
“There had been amazingly few injuries – one crew member broke a hip, a professor broke her ribs, and several students had to be treated for stitches – one kid had his face sliced by the table in his room rolling around and my friend Craig woke up to his television set falling on top of him.
“Our outlook remained overwhelmingly positive, however. I was told before of how much the people on the ship turn into a close-knit family of sorts, but didn’t realize what a community we had until we spent the entire day cleaning the library, sorting out the garbage and giving hugs to friends once we found them in the mess and made sure that they were alright.
“Through the ordeal, we all drank out of the same water bottle, nobody caring about if it was gross to drink after so many other people. After only 10 days or so, we’ve already been through so much together. We’ve all made use of the pun ‘We’re all in the same boat,’ but it’s so true. As I stood in the hall with my lifejacket, I was surrounded by little kids, senior citizens, even one of my professors and it was remarkable to note how much we all had in common despite our different stations in life – we were all scared and thinking of our loved ones, I’m sure, and in that moment we lost the part of ourselves that had been somewhat bored or petty over this leg of the voyage.
“…I hope school and work are going well for everyone. Let me know how you’re doing. Take care and appreciate the fact that your bed doesn’t rock and roll all night.’