Non-fatal injuries 70 Date 10 October 1993 Location Yellow Sea | On board 362 Number of deaths 292 Injuries 70 | |
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Similar Sinking of MV Sewol, Sampoong Department Store coll, Daegu subway fire, Asiana Airlines Flight 733, 2007 South Korea oil spill | ||
The South Korean ferry Seohae (Korean: 서해 페리호; Hanja: 西海페리號) sank on October 10, 1993 in the Yellow Sea near Wido, Buan County, North Jeolla Province. 292 of the 362 passengers and crew on board were killed. 70 people were rescued.
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At the time, this accident was the largest ferry disaster in South Korea since December 15, 1970, when 323 people on board were killed on the ferry Namyoung (남영호).
Seohae
Accident
Seohae was a ferry of 110 gross tons, with a maximum capacity of 221 passengers. At the time of the accident, Seohae was carrying 362 people (355 passengers and 7 crew), an excess of 141, and the weather condition was harsh with winds of 10 to 14 metres per second (22 to 31 mph) and wave height of 2 to 3 metres (6.6 to 9.8 ft).
Overload was a factor in the sinking. Another was a 1-cm 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.