Officer was Distracted on Cell Phone as Ferry Grounded Says Coast Guard

The Korean Coast Guard held a briefing on yesterday’s grounding of a passenger car ferry, reporting a litany of failures and saying it is pursuing charges, including gross negligence. It said the first officer, who was responsible for navigation, was distracted by his cell phone and failed to perform his duties, while the captain and helmsman are also under investigation.

The first officer of the ferry, identified as a Korean in his 40s, was in charge of the vessel as it was completing its four-hour run from the popular tourist destination on Jeju island. He initially told the Coast Guard the steering had malfunctioned, but later admitted he had been reading the news on his cell phone.

During the final 45 minutes of the voyage, the ferry Queen Jenuvia 2 was traveling through a narrow navigation channel, and according to the Coast Guard, the vessel should have been under manual control. Instead, the vessel’s automatic pilot had remained engaged as it approached a nearly 90-degree bend in the channel.

The vessel overshot the turn by approximately two to three minutes, or 1,500 meters, and was approximately 100 meters from an uninhabited island when the error was detected. The bow of the vessel was holed as it hit the island. A total of 27 passengers were taken to the hospital after the vessel was evacuated, suffering from a range of minor injuries.

The Coast Guard said the first officer, along with the helmsman, is being detained and facing arrest on charges of gross negligence. If convicted, they would face up to five years in jail.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing, with the Coast Guard reporting that it was seizing cell phones to conduct forensic analyses. It is also reviewing closed-circuit TV camera video from the ship, as well as the voyage data recorder.

The master of the vessel, a Korean in his 60s, is also under investigation because he was not on the bridge at the time of the incident. He is facing charges for a failure to fulfill his duties. The helmsman, who is from Indonesia, was being interviewed through the use of an interpreter.

The operators of the ferry, Sea World Express Ferry Co., issued a formal apology and suspended service. It said it was working with the authorities while noting it had arranged shelter for the passengers after they were evacuated. The company said it was working to determine the circumstances and promised to “comprehensively reorganize our safety management system across all ship operations to prevent a recurrence.”

The ferry was refloated overnight at high tide and was brought to the dock in Mokpo for further investigation. It had 246 passengers and 21 crewmembers aboard and was carrying 118 vehicles. Arrangements were being made for the vehicles to be offloaded along with the cargo from the ship.