Terrorist attacks prevent SAS trip to London

Semester at Sea decided to cancel its visit to London because of the recent terrorist attacks… Semester at Sea decided to cancel its visit to London because of the recent terrorist attacks there.

The July 7 bombings killed 52 people and injured 700. Another series of attempted bombings occurred on July 21, in which none of the bombs exploded.

Administrators decided to cancel the visit to London after consulting sources that included the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Embassy in the United Kingdom and their personal risk assessment company, iJET.

Instead, administrators chose Le Havre, France, as the substitute destination, located at the mouth of the Seine River and 200 kilometers from Paris.

“Ultimately, we felt it made sense to go to France. It was an overall evaluation of the situation,” said Paul Watson, the director of enrollment for the Institute of Shipboard Education.

Watson said that among the many factors that administrators considered in making this choice, the second bombing in London helped them finalize the decision to cancel the trip.

Because countries and regions are volatile and unpredictable, administrators found it difficult to evaluate the situation in London objectively, Watson said.

However, he doesn’t feel the change will affect the students’ experience overall.

“Any time there is a change, it is disruptive, particularly when a decision has to be made on a short notice,” Watson said, adding that the shipboard community understood the need for a change of plans.

Elizabeth Kaul, a student from Nashville, Tenn., is abroad with Semester at Sea this summer. On July 29, 2005, she wrote in her blog, ” … they didn’t feel right putting us in a situation where we would be so dependent on public transportation under the current circumstances. I respect that. Besides, I’d never been to either country so it didn’t really matter to me.”

Watson said that Semester at Sea is unique in its ability to handle changes of this sort.

“We preach a gospel of a need to be flexible,” he said, and explained that if the program is in an unstable area, there are other options.

All of the field trips planned in London were cancelled, but one overnight trip to another part of England was offered to students.

London will be an accessible option to students in the future, he said, adding that many students will find another method of visiting.