/Yonhap Agency
The South Korean Coast Guard requested an arrest warrant for the captain of a passenger ferry that ran aground last week, leading to the rescue of the 267 people on board.
The captain of the Queen Jenuvia II, about 60 years old, is accused of causing injury through gross negligence and of violating the Seafarers’ Act by abandoning his duties at the time of the accident that occurred on Wednesday, November 19.
The 26,546-ton vessel ran aground on the uninhabited islet of Jok, off the coast of Sinan, about 350 kilometers south of Seoul, while sailing from the southern island of Jeju to the southwestern city of Mokpo.
The 246 passengers and 21 crew members were rescued safe and sound, although 30 of them received hospital treatment for pains.
On Saturday the 22nd, the first officer and the helmsman were arrested on the same charges of causing injury through gross negligence.
The first officer was found to have been looking at his phone while navigating narrow waters on autopilot.
Meanwhile, the captain had left the bridge to rest in his cabin.
