A moment's distraction at the helm turned a routine ferry trip off South Korea into a chaotic dash for safety this week. The New York Times reports that a passenger ferry with 267 people aboard crashed into a rocky islet off South Korea's coast on Wednesday night after the officer at the helm was distracted by his cellphone, according to the local coast guard. The Queen Jenuvia II was on autopilot less than hour away from its destination of Mokpo, in the country's southwest, when it struck the islet around 8:15pm, per the coast guard chief.
All passengers and crew were evacuated safely, though 27 reported dizziness or minor injuries; 10 News has video of the rescue. "I thought I might die. The sound was too loud," one passenger tells Reuters. The first mate, who was in charge while the captain was off duty, initially blamed a malfunctioning rudder but later admitted he'd been checking the news on his phone at a time when the ferry should have been steered away from the islet, per the Times.
The ship was traveling about 26mph and was on autopilot, though ships typically switch to manual steering in that narrow part of the sea channel, officials said. The first mate, helmsman, and captain, who wasn't in the wheelhouse at the time of the crash, have been charged with injury by gross negligence, a crime that can bring a prison term of up to five years. Investigators are examining the staffers' cellphones, as well as data recorders and security camera footage.
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