On October 22, 1963 an amazing experiment in international
education and cultural exploration began when the MS Seven Seas sailed from New
York City on an around-the-world voyage with students, faculty and staff/administrators. 124 voyages, and just over 52 years later,
the MV World Odyssey has just sailed from Dakar, Senegal bound for Salvador,
Brazil. This “amazing experiment”
continues …
Over the years the program has had different names — The
University of the Seven Seas, The Seven Seas Division of Chapman College, World
Campus Afloat and Semester at Sea — but the spirit and mission of the program
has remained unchanged.
The students, their faculty mentors, the staff members who
have held things together and the life long learners who have shared in these
adventures of discovery and understanding have visited 96 “unique” political
units over the years. That’s another
way of saying “countries” — the program has been around so long that South
Vietnam was visited before becoming Vietnam; the British Crown Colony of Hong
Kong was a common port of call before becoming part of China; the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics broke up and separately became Ukraine and Russia
and the same can be said for Yugoslavia and Croatia.
The 124 voyages (including the five lost voyages of the
World Campus Afloat program) have made 1,634 ports of call (including
embarkation and debarkation ports), including two by land, Barcelona in March
of 1965 on the Spring Voyage 1965 — the “dead-head” voyage — and the
land-locked city of Jerusalem in March of 1983 during the Spring Voyage 1983
when the SS Universe ran aground in the harbor of Alexandria, Egypt.
Of these 1,634 ports of call, three were also visited via
air when the MV Explorer was temporarily out of action for ship repairs during
the Spring Voyage 2005 — the entire ship’s company flew to Shanghai, Hong Kong
and Ho Chi Minh City (where they rejoined the ship).
Not included in the list are port “stops” for fuel
bunkering, the health emergency stop at Diego Garcia (Spring Voyage 2011) and
the two “immigration” stops at Ishigaki-shima, Japan (Fall Voyage 1991 and
Spring Voyage 2011) — students were not allowed ashore, so these are not ports
of call.
Here’s the list as of November 6, 2015:
United States 211
Japan 103
India 85
Spain 64
China 63
Egypt 59
Greece 54
South Africa 54
British Crown Colony of Hong Kong 51
Brazil 50
Taiwan 45
Morocco 41
Vietnam 41
Italy 39
Malaysia 38
Turkey 38
Bahamas 34
Canada 30
Kenya 30
Sri Lanka (Ceylon) 29
Singapore 24
Portugal 23
Venezuela 19
Ghana 17
United Kingdom 17
Mexico 16
Philippines 16
South Korea 16
Mauritius 15
Yugoslavia 14
Senegal 13
Cuba 12
Panama 12
Thailand 12
Israel 11
Russia 10
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 10
Chile 9
Croatia 9
Indonesia 9
Ireland 9
Australia 8
Belgium 8
Costa Rica 8
Argentina 7
Fiji 7
France 7
Norway 7
Peru 7
Tanzania 7
Myanmar (Burma) 6
Netherlands 5
Papua New Guinea 5
Seychelles 5
Trinidad and Tobago
5
Ecuador 4
French Polynesia 4
Guatemala 4
New Zealand
4
Poland 4
Tunisia 4
Ukraine 4
Uruguay 4
Colombia 3
Denmark 3
Dominica 3
Jamaica 3
Lebanon 3
Namibia 3
Sierra Leone 3
Angola 2
Belize 2
British Crown Colony of the Seychelles 2
Bulgaria 2
French Somaliland 2
Germany 2
Haiti 2
Honduras 2
Ivory Coast 2
Malta 2
Mozambique 2
Algeria 1
Barbados 1
Cyprus 1
Finland 1
Guinea 1
Iceland 1
Liberia 1
Martinique 1
Netherlands Antilles - Curacao 1
Nicaragua 1
Nigeria 1
Romania 1
South Vietnam 1
Sweden 1
Western Samoa 1
