On the morning of Wednesday, 16 April 2014, the ferry MV Sewol sank while en route from Incheon towards Jeju City in South Korea. The 6,825-ton vessel sent a distress signal from about 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi; 1.5 nmi) north of Byeongpungdo at 08:58 KST (23:58 UTC, 15 April 2014). Out of 476 passengers and crew, 304 people died in the disaster, including around 250 students from Danwon High School in Ansan. Around 82% of the Sewol's casualties were children. Out of the 172 survivors, more than half were rescued by fishing boats and other commercial vessels that arrived at the scene approximately 40 minutes before the Korea Coast Guard (KCG).
The sinking of Sewol resulted in widespread social and political reaction within South Korea. In a short-answer poll taken by Hankyoreh newspaper in December 2014, the Sewol disaster was voted the second most important historical event in South Korea since the country's independence, behind only the Korean War. Many people criticized the actions of the ferry's captain and most of the crew. Also criticized were the ferry's operator, Chonghaejin Marine, and the regulators who oversaw its operations, along with the administration of President Park Geun-hye for her response to the disaster and attempts to downplay government culpability, and the Korean Coast Guard for its poor handling of the disaster, and the perceived passivity of the rescue-boat crew on scene. Outrage has also been expressed against the initial false reporting of the disast
Why this event still matters
Historical incidents shape the rules that protect people today — building codes, evacuation policy, warning systems and inspection regimes almost always trace back to a specific disaster. Studying sinking of the MV Sewol alongside current events is how preparedness improves.
See what is happening right now on the live world incident map, browse every maritime accidents we track on the Maritime Accident tracker, or follow live incidents in South Korea.