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Heesu Lee, Cynthia Kim and Rose Kim (writers). April 30, 2014. Coast Guard Says South Korea Ferry Bodies May Be Lost [web]. Retrieved April 28, 2014. From: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-30/south-korean-president-park-apologizes-over-ferry-sinking.html

MV Sewol, a South Korean ferry tragically capsized on April 16, 2014 en route to Jeju from Incheon. This ferry was carrying 476 people, mostly secondary school students from Danwon High School (Ansan City). This island is a major hot spot, much like Hawaii is to us. This vacation would’ve been a great relaxation before their college exams, where their futures would’ve been decided.

Lee Gyeon-og, the Ministry of Security and Public Administration vice-minister, stated that there were roughly 450 people aboard, the majority of whom were high school students who were on their way to a four day field trip: 30 crew members, 325 high school students of Danwon High School, 15 school teachers and 89 non-student passengers were aboard the ship.

The capsizing began about 16 miles off the southwest coast. By day two of the incident, some officials had attributed the cause to a sharp left turn. Soon afterwards, a loud “bang” was reportedly heard. The captain then told passengers to stay in their rooms, resulting in much controversy. About three minutes after all communications were cut, about 150 to 160 passengers and crew jumped overboard. The first distress call from the sinking vessel was made by a boy with a shaking voice, three minutes after the vessel started tipping. The boy called the emergency 119 number which put him through to the fire service, which in turn, forwarded him to the coastguard two minutes later. That was followed by about 20 other calls from children on board the ship to the emergency number.

What caused this tragedy? The ship is massive, 479 feet long and 22 metres wide, and was over three times overloaded, according to official recommendations, with cargo poorly stowed and inadequate ballast.

An executive at Union Transport Co, Moon Ki-han, the firm that supervised cargo loading, told Reuters there were 105 containers onboard, many of which toppled into the sea. Forty-five were loaded on to the front deck and 60 into the lower decks, Moon said. In total, the ship was carrying 3,600 metric tons of cargo including containers, vehicles and other goods, he said. A member of parliament this week said the Korean Register of Shipping recommended a load of 987 tons for the Sewol.

Around two hundred people have been rescued, but with over 300 casualties the nation is in tragic shock. This catastrophic event is horrible and the world mourns for the lost loved ones.