Overloading contributed to tragedy

Byun Ki-choon, chief executive of Chonhaeji, enters the prosecutors’ office in Incheon, Tuesday. Chonhaeji is the biggest shareholder of Chonghaejin Marine, the operator of the capsized ferry Sewol. / Yonhap

By Kim Tae-gyu

The prosecution said Tuesday that it had seized the email accounts belonging to C.C Shipyard, the company that refurbished the ferry Sewol in 2012, to check its correspondence with Chonghaejin Marine, the operator of the submerged vessel.

Suspicions surfaced that C.C Shipyard illegally created additional storage space on the ferry to enable the transportation of more cargo. The Mokpo-based company was raided on April 18, three days after the ship capsized.

On top of the 15 crew aboard the Sewol, a joint investigation police-prosecution team arrested three senior officials of Chonghaejin Marine, who are accused of loading too much freight onto the 6,825-ton boat. Other staff members are also under investigation.

The ship was not supposed to carry more than 987 tons of cargo, but 3,608 tons, including some 180 vehicles were on board when it capsized off the country’s southwestern coast on April 16.

Chonghaejin officials reduced the amount of ballast water, which proved to be a fatal decision _ just 580 tons of ballast were onboard the vessel when the accident took place, far lower than the recommended 2,030 tons.

Ships have to carry sufficient ballast to maintain resistance to lateral forces such as strong waves and currents. Without this, they can heel over, resulting in the vessels capsizing.

The joint investigation team believes that, with insufficient ballast onboard, the Sewol started to list after a sharp turn against strong tidal currents at the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula.

“A first mate on the Sewol said that officials did not load enough ballast water,” said a prosecutor.

Prof. Lim Geung-su at Mokpo National Maritime University said, “Vessels have multiple safety systems designed to prevent them from capsizing. The primary one is ballast water,” he said. “Without enough ballast, its center of gravity shifted higher.”

The Sewol departed from Incheon Port on late April 15, heading toward the resort island of Jeju with 476 passengers aboard. Only 174 have been rescued.

Confusion over numbers from the scene of the disaster angered not only the victims’ families but also the general public. Some raise the possibility that the number of passengers could change because media outlets have reported that there were also unregistered crew on the ferry.

In the meantime, rescue workers continued their search operations Tuesday, as the death toll stood at 263, with 39 still missing as of 5 p.m.