Sinking of the Sewol (2014)
On April 16, 2014, this Korean ferry capsizes off Jindo, 304 dead including 250 high school students; overloading, poor lashing and reduced ballast caused the sinking, which changed Korean regulation.
On April 16, 2014, the Sewol, a roll-on roll-off ferry of the Chonghaejin Marine company, sails from Incheon to Jeju Island with 476 people aboard, including 325 students from a Danwon high school. Off Jindo, a turning maneuver makes the ship list, poorly lashed vehicles and containers slide, she does not right herself and capsizes. Three hundred and four people die, most of them students whom the crew told to stay in their cabins. The Korean investigation finds an accumulation of causes: the ship had been refitted in 2012, with cabins added on top, which made her unstable; she carried about 2,150 tonnes of cargo against a limit of about 990; her ballast had been reduced to load more; lashing did not follow the rules. The captain is sentenced to life in prison in 2015, the shipowner loses its operating license and its executives are prosecuted. The classification society, the Korean Register, and the inspection body are criticized for approving the modifications. For insurance, it is a considerable P&I loss: victim compensation, wreck raising, and the state's recourse costs against the owner. It led Korea to dissolve its coast guard in 2014 and to tighten load and stability controls on ferries.
Textbook case. Ferry owner, P&I policy with a per-occurrence limit of USD 1bn in excess of the pool. Loss: ship lost, passengers killed, wreck raised. The club pays victim compensation and wreck removal costs. A hull insurer, who insured the ship on the basis of a class certificate built on badly approved modifications, turns against the classification body, in vain if the limitation clause of the class contract holds. The underwriter learns the lesson: ask for post-modification plans, and the stability reports that follow them.
Sewol, Sewol ferry, MV Sewol, Sewol sinking, Sewol ferry disaster 2014
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