It was revealed that the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) failed to detect in time the abnormal signs of a passenger ship that deviated from its route in the accident in which the large passenger ship Queen Jenuvia II ran aground after colliding with an uninhabited island in waters near Sinan County, South Jeolla Province.
On the 20th, Kim Seong-yun, head of the Mokpo Regional Vessel Traffic Service Center, said at a press briefing, "We became aware of the grounding after receiving a report from the passenger ship through the VTS," and added, "As the party responsible for traffic control, I regret what happened."
Kim said, "It seems there were shortcomings," but added, "The investigation process will look into this, and control responsibility will be determined through that investigation."
Earlier, the passenger ship should have changed course at a point about 1,600 meters from Jukdo, the accident site, but it was found that First Officer A noticed this only when the uninhabited island was 100 meters ahead. In particular, because the section is a dangerous narrow channel, navigation must be switched to manual from the automatic navigation system, but A did not switch to manual and was engaged in another activity, it was found.
In addition, it turned out that even the controller in charge of the accident sea area failed to detect abnormal signs, not only immediately before the grounding but also afterward, until a report came in from the passenger ship involved.
Accordingly, whether traffic control was properly conducted has also become a subject of investigation.
Kim explained that at the time, the controller was monitoring a total of five vessels sailing in the waters under their responsibility, including the Queen Jenuvia II.
Kim said, "We monitored that the Queen Jenuvia II was sailing at normal speed until it entered the accident sea area," and added, "The accident point and the usual route were very close, and the ship was at high speed, so it seems the controller could not establish radio contact."
The Mokpo Korea Coast Guard, which is currently investigating the cause of the accident, has secured the voyage data recorder (VDR) and closed-circuit (CC)TV footage showing the inside of the ship and is examining the circumstances.
The Korea Coast Guard also urgently arrested First Officer A, in his 40s, and Helmsman B, an Indonesian national in his 40s, on charges of Injury by Gross Negligence for allegedly neglecting navigation while looking at their mobile phones, and is investigating.
Regarding the case, Rep. Lee Gae-ho of the Democratic Party of Korea said in a news release the same day, "Since route deviation and lack of traffic control occurred simultaneously, the maritime safety system needs to be reviewed."