Thanks to foreign tourists visiting Korea, the Han River cruise (tour boat) had been thriving, but an accident suddenly occurred. At 8:05 p.m. on the 28th, a Han River tour boat carrying 359 passengers ran aground near Banpo Bridge in Seoul. An investigation found the operating tour boat caught on the riverbed and tried to get free for 20 minutes but could not. A passenger reported it, and fortunately there were no casualties, but E-Cruise suspended its tour boat operations for the time being. The cancellations are for safety checks.
According to related industries on the 31st, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is investigating whether the tour boat veered off its route while trying to approach too close to the fountain, and said it could impose a no-sail order if there is a problem. The most on edge is E-Cruise of E-Land Group, the operator of the tour boats. If the no-sail order drags on, results could be hurt. Tied to the Seoul mayoral election in June, the accident could also grow into a political issue.
After news broke of the Han River tour boat running aground, Hwang Myeong-seon, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, referred to the incident as a "Han River Bus accident," and the Seoul Metropolitan Government issued a rebuttal. Spokesperson Lee Min-kyoung of the Seoul Metropolitan Government said in a statement on the 30th, "This accident clearly occurred during the operation of a private tour boat," adding, "If there is no correction and apology, we will consider all measures, including legal action." The Han River Bus is one of Mayor Oh Se-hoon's key projects.
A distribution industry official said, "With the June election ahead, we cannot help but stay on high alert over the possibility of prolonged safety inspections," adding, "If strong political attacks are expected, the easiest approach is to remove the conditions that could create problems in the first place."
E-Cruise began to emerge from the red in 2022 on the back of a demand recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, increased outings lifted operating profit to 2.52 billion won. That is up 50% from the previous year. However, given that finance costs reached 3.3 billion won in the same year, it was difficult to cover the interest burden with profits from the core business alone. If not for other revenue such as rental income (200 million won) and debt forgiveness gains (1.1 billion won), it could effectively have posted a loss.
Since last year, E-Cruise had been building a stable revenue structure. Last year it logged revenue of 16.755 billion won and operating profit of 3.359 billion won. Finance costs (3.0 billion won) also fell below operating profit.
A distribution industry official said, "An accident occurred just as a good picture was coming together. The suspension of operations due to the Han River tour boat accident needs to be wrapped up quickly, and only if this accident does not heighten consumer anxiety about safety will E-Cruise's profitability improvement efforts bear fruit."
In the end, the Han River tour boat grounding is growing beyond a safety management issue, intertwining with political sparring and corporate results to widen the ripple effects. Depending on when operations resume, not only E-Cruise's profitability but also whether confidence in Han River tourism overall recovers is likely to be affected, drawing attention to the outcome.