Sewol capable of carrying 920 passengers, 220 cars

The ferry Sewol was built in 1994 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. / Yonhap

By Kim Tae-gyu

People leave a ship at Paegmok Port in Jindo, Wednesday, after being rescued from a ferry that sank off Korea’s southwestern coast while sailing from Incheon to Jeju Island. A total of 447 passengers, mostly high school students, were on board the ferry. / Yonhap

Sewol, a car ferry which sank off Korea’s southern coast on Wednesday, is a large vessel designed to carry up to 921 passengers and 220 automobiles.

The 6,852-ton ferry, which is 146 meters long and 22 meters wide, could reach speeds of 21 knots when cruising from the port city of Incheon, west of Seoul, to the southern scenic island Jeju in 13.5 hours.

Cheonghaejin Marine began operating the liner on the Incheon-Jeju route in March 2013 to meet rising tourist demand. It set off from Incheon at 6:30 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday, reaching Jeju the following morning.

But its departure from Incheon was delayed by more than two hours this Tuesday due to thick fog, and departed the western coastal city around 9 p.m. About 12 hours later, it sank in waters 20 kilometers off the island of Byeongpoong.

The vessel was particularly popular for school excursions because it is large and convenient and equipped with multiple restaurants, a public bath, stores and spacious meeting rooms.

Schools in Seoul and nearby areas sent hundreds of their students on the ship to Jeju who then typically flew back to the capital afterwards.

The students aboard the Sewol were from a high school in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, located some 40 kilometers south of Seoul. They were on a four-day trip to Jeju, with plans to visit many of its tourist attractions.

Experts Wednesday were at a loss in trying to explain the disaster.

“The Sewol is a huge vessel, which is very safe. I don’t understand how such a big ship capsized in just hours. In-depth studies will be necessary,” said an official at a local shipping company.