The captain of the Queen Jenuvia II appeared at a local court on Tuesday for an arrest warrant hearing linked to last month’s grounding accident off South Korea’s southwestern coast, which left about 30 passengers injured. He is facing allegations of causing injury through gross negligence and breaching the Seafarers Act.

The 26,546-tonne passenger vessel, carrying 246 passengers and 21 crew members, struck an uninhabited islet on 19 November while navigating the narrow coastal waters off Sinan in South Jeolla Province, roughly 366 kilometres south of Seoul.

Investigators arrested the first mate and the helmsman three days after the incident, stating that they had failed to steer the ferry properly while on duty.

Attention later shifted to the captain, a man in his 60s whose identity has not been disclosed. Authorities allege that he was outside the wheelhouse while the ferry transited the confined waters off Sinan, which is said to be a violation of the Seafarers Act.

He attended the hearing at the Mokpo branch of the Gwangju District Court, where he was reported to have conveyed that he felt sorry to the passengers. The session lasted approximately 20 minutes.

After the hearing concluded, he was transferred to a Coast Guard detention facility to await the court’s ruling on the arrest request. The decision is expected late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.

References: YNA, Korea Times