[South Korea] Tribute Post: Remembering the victims of the Sewol Ferry Tragedy.

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Just a reminder.
Anyway:
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Basic info:
The sinking of MV Sewol, also called the Sewol ferry disaster, occurred on the morning of 16 April 2014, when the ferry was en route from Incheon towards Jeju in South Korea.
The 6,825-ton vessel sent a distress signal from about 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi) north of Byeongpungdo at 08:58 KST (23:58 UTC, 15 April 2014).


Out of 476 passengers and crew, 304 died in the disaster, including around 250 students from Danwon High School (Ansan City).
Of the approximately 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.



The production/structure of the vessel:
At the time of its purchase by Chonghaejin Marine in 2012, the ship that would come to be known as MV Sewol was eighteen years old and dilapidated.
She (the ship) was originally named Ferry Naminoue and was operated from 1994 to 2012 as a transport ship for cargo and passengers by the Japanese company A-Line Ferry.


According to A-Line Ferry, it did not experience any problems during its service in Japan.
After it was purchased on 8 October 2012, it underwent modifications between 12 October 2012 and 12 February 2013, and was registered by Chonghaejin on 22 October 2012.
The modifications were later found to have been based on an illegal redesign of the ship.



Sewol school trip/class retreat:
On 15 April 2014, Sewol was scheduled to leave the port at Incheon at 6:30 p.m., KST. A fog which restricted the visible distance to less than 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) led the Incheon vessel traffic service (VTS) to issue a low visibility warning around 5:30 p.m., leading the Shipping Association to hold Sewol's departure.
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The VTS retracted the warning around 8:35 p.m., and the Shipping Association removed the restriction on Sewol's departure after checking the weather conditions with the operator of the Palmido lighthouse and consulting with the Korean Coast Guard. She departed around 9 p.m., and was the only ship to leave port that evening.
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When Sewol departed, she was carrying 443 passengers, 33 crew members, and a total of 2,142.7 tons of cargo including 185 cars.
325 of the passengers were students on a field trip from Danwon High School and five passengers were of non-Korean nationality. The ship was commanded by 69-year-old Captain Lee Joon-seok, who had been brought in as a replacement for the regular captain.


Joon-seok had over 40 years of experience at sea, and had traveled the route before. Joon was hired on a one-year contract, with a monthly salary of ₩2.7 million (roughly US$2,500). Lee worked with thirty-three crew members for the journey, of which nineteen were irregular, part-time workers.

[I DO NOT GLORIFY OR ROMANTICIZE DEATH. I AM NOT INSENSITIVE, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS POST AS EXPOSING VULNERABILITY]

From the student (last moments before the sinking/crash)
The boys:
[link to m.youtube.com (secure)]
The girls:
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Last Edited by NomNomDelight on 01/03/2021 08:15 AM