The first mate and the helmsman of the Queen Jenuvia II, who are accused of running a large passenger ship aground off the coast of Shinan County, South Jeolla, after being distracted by looking at their mobile phones, underwent a pretrial detention hearing on Saturday for charges of gross negligence resulting in injury.
"I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for causing harm to so many people, and I am especially sorry to the pregnant woman," the first mate said to the press before entering the court. The two had their faces covered with masks and caps and were wearing jackets bearing the shipping company's name.
When asked whether he had used the autopilot system on previous voyages, the first mate responded, "I only turn on the autopilot on straight routes, and switch to manual control in sections where we need to change course," adding that he had "briefly looked at Naver" on his mobile phone. The helmsman, an Indonesian national, did not make any particular comments.
The two are accused of causing the grounding of the ferry while distracted during its operation near Jokdo in Shinan County at around 8:16 p.m. Wednesday.
They were required to change course 1,600 meters (5,249 feet) before the accident site but failed to do so. Investigations found that the first mate was watching news on his mobile phone in the wheelhouse and did not recognize the danger until 13 seconds before the collision.
The helmsman has denied the allegations, stating that keeping watch ahead was the first mate's responsibility and that he had been looking at the gyrocompass at the time.
The Coast Guard is also investigating the ship's captain on charges of violating the Seafarers Act, as he allegedly left the wheelhouse to take a break even though he was required to directly oversee navigation in the narrow channel.
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 KIM EUN-BIN [[email protected]]