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Mokpo Coast Guard investigates vessel traffic service operator in ferry grounding

Published: 24 Nov. 2025, 14:04 Updated: 24 Nov. 2025, 19:18

The Queen Jenuvia II, a 26,000-ton passenger ship, is docked at one of the Samhak wharfs in Mokpo, South Jeolla, on Nov. 20. The vessel, carrying 267 passengers and crew from Jeju Island to Mokpo, ran aground near an uninhabited island in Shinan County the previous day. [YONHAP]

The Mokpo Coast Guard said on Monday that it is investigating a vessel traffic service operator to determine whether they failed to detect signs that the Queen Jenuvia II, a 26,000-ton ferry, had deviated from its designated route before running aground off Korea's southwest coast last week.

The operator has not been formally booked.

Investigators said the operator turned off the alarm for a system that alerts controllers when a vessel veers from its normal course.

The operator told investigators, “Small fishing boats also trigger the alarm and disrupt traffic control work.”

With the alarm disabled, the operator did not notice the ferry's course deviation until the first officer reported it, according to the Coast Guard.

The operator had been monitoring about 5,000 vessels at the time and said that they had been focused on another large ship that had strayed from its route, investigators said.

The Coast Guard has also sought an arrest warrant for the ferry’s captain on charges of gross negligence causing injury and violating the Seafarers Act. Investigators said the captain left the wheelhouse after the vessel's departure to rest in their cabin. They said the captain did not return even as the ferry entered a narrow, high-risk channel.

The Queen Jenuvia II’s first officer and an Indonesian helsman were arrested on Saturday on gross-negligence charges. Investigators said they were directly responsible for the grounding and had been distracted in the wheelhouse, including by looking at their phones.

The ship — carrying 246 passengers and 21 crew members — departed for Mokpo, South Jeolla, at 4:45 p.m. last Wednesday. It ran aground near a rock islet off Shinan County, South Jeolla, at 8:16 p.m., injuring 30 passengers who were later taken to hospitals.

Seaworld Express Ferry, which operates the Queen Jenuvia II, has suspended the ferry’s Mokpo-Jeju service until Dec. 31 while it carries out safety checks.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]