The South Korean ferry ''Seohae'' (;

Hanja Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

: ) sank on October 10, 1993 in the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

near Wido,

Buan County Buan County (, ''Buan-gun'') is a county in Jeonbuk State, South Korea. It is bounded by the city of Jeongeup on the east, the county of Gochang on the south, the city of Gimje on the north, and Yellow Sea on the west. Buan is divided into 1 ' ...

North Jeolla Province North Jeolla Province, officially Jeonbuk State (), is a Special Self-governing Province of South Korea in the Honam region in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula. Jeonbuk borders the provinces of South Chungcheong to the north, North Gyeo ...

. Of those on board, 292 of the 362 passengers and crew on board were killed. Seventy people were rescued. At the time, this sinking was the largest ferry disaster in South Korea since December 15, 1970, when 323 people on board were killed in the sinking of the ferry ''Namyoung'' (남영호).

Vessel

''Seohae'' was a ferry of 110

gross tons Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weig ...

, with a maximum capacity of 221 passengers.

Sinking

At the time of the incident, ''Seohae'' was carrying 362 people (355 passengers and seven crew), an excess of 141, and the weather condition was harsh with winds of and wave height of . Overloading was a factor in the sinking. Another was a thick rope found wrapped around both propeller shafts. The rope, left behind by fishing operations, may have made the ferry heel over onto her starboard side.

Aftermath

Divers were employed to help recover the bodies of deceased victims after the vessel sank.

References

1993 in South Korea Maritime incidents in 1993 Ferries of South Korea Maritime incidents in South Korea Shipwrecks in the Yellow Sea October 1993 in Asia 1993 disasters in South Korea Shipwrecks of Korea {{Korea-hist-stub

Vessel

Sinking

Aftermath

See also

References