Safety Panel Rules That Sewol Sinking Started With a Steering Failure

The latest investigation into the sinking of the South Korean ferry Sewol has concluded that the capsizing was initiated by a steering failure followed by a cargo shift, which the vessel had insufficient stability to survive.

On April 16, 2014, the ferry Sewol suddenly capsized and sank off Jindo-Gun, South Korea. Out of 476 people aboard, 304 were killed in the sinking, most of them high school students. The master of the vessel abandoned ship early without joining in the rescue, and he instructed the crew to tell passengers to stay in their cabins, potentially increasing the death toll. He was later convicted of murder by omission and is serving a life term in a Korean prison. Other members of the crew and one Korea Coast Guard officer were convicted of lesser offenses.

In an attempt to recover all human remains from the wreckage and investigate the cause of the disaster, Korean authorities hired Shanghai Salvage to raise the Sewol in one piece and move it to shore - the deepest wreck raising ever attempted. The recovery effort gave investigators unrivalled access to a sunken ship, intact, dry and resting on its side on a seaport quay.

In the latest review of the much-studied accident, the Korea Maritime Safety Tribunal determined that there was no evidence of an external collision, and it focused on factors internal to the vessel. Previous inquiries have already determined that the vessel was heavily overloaded, and that it was intrinsically topheavy due to owner-initiated modifications on the upper decks.

In a conclusion similar to a 2018 investigation, the panel determined that a solenoid valve failed on the No. 2 steering pump, causing a malfunction. The resulting hard turn caused Sewol to heel over; because the cargo aboard the vessel was not properly secured, it shifted to one side, adding to the heeling moment. The vessel lacked enough GM to overcome it, downflooded through hull penetrations, and capsized.