The Sinking of the Sewol Ferry- The South Korean Ferry Disaster

Running head: RISK MANAGEMENT
RISK MANAGEMENT
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Executive Summary
The research is focused on identifying case of the South Korean Sewol ferry disaster and the
relative causes that resulted to the final disaster. The report analyzed different sources of
information which reflected that the sinking of the Sewol ferry on 16th of April 2014 resulted to
death of around 304 people of which 250 were Danwon students. The disaster occurred in the
southern waters of South Korea while the ferry was travelling from Incheon to Je-ju Island. The
major issues that were highlighted during the government audit was due to the lack of immediate
decision making capacity of the Captain. On the other hand, the overburdening of the ship
through falsification of the reports based on cargos to the Korean Register’s licensing act and the
corrupted practice of the registrar contributed to the adversity of the situation. It was also
researched that minimal investments were made for training the crew members. The lack of
effective training and control mechanisms for managing any adverse situation also contributed to
the disaster. The major cause that minimized the rate of rescue operations were related to the
lack of immediate response from the side of the coast guards, the captain, crew members or the
president’s office. It has been noted that the Captain could have easily given order for evacuating
the ship whereas he asked the passengers to ‘stay put’ which intensified the situation. The
research also developed an understanding of the consequences of the disaster. One of the major
consequence of the disaster was the heavy toll suffered by the image of Saenuri Party. On the
other hand, the South Korean Government granted huge sum of money to the victims which
might affect the rate of economy. On the other hand, most of the events were postponed which
slowed the economic growth of South Korea. Mostly, the societal structure and the trust of the
South Korean population on the government were affected. The research also enumerated a set
of recommended activities that could have been implemented with the objective of reducing the
adversity of the situation.

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Table of Contents
1.Introduction and Aims..................................................................................................................3
2.Case Study assessment.................................................................................................................4
2.1Risks.......................................................................................................................................4
2.1.1MV Sewol and the incident.............................................................................................4
2.1.2The reasons for the disaster.............................................................................................5
2.2 Consequences........................................................................................................................7
3. Conclusion and Recommendations..............................................................................................8
3.1Training and development initiatives.....................................................................................9
3.2Improving the recruitment process.........................................................................................9
3.3Improving the communication using strong networking services..........................................9
3.4Improving the infrastructure.................................................................................................10
3.5Dragging the attention of government and coast guards......................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................12

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Topic: The sinking of the Sewol Ferry- The South Korean Ferry Disaster
1.Introduction and Aims
The assessment of the different risk factors and planning the different activities supports
an organization inn improving the efficiency of the business venture. The sinking of the Sewol
ferry on 16th of April 2014 in southern waters of South Korea killing around 304 people of which
most of them were children (Sang-Hun 2019). It was noted that the ferry entered the Maenggol
Channel of South Korea while travelling from Incheon to Je-ju Island (Woo et al. 2015). The
lack of suitable decision making capacity of the captain and the overloaded ship resulted to the
disaster while compromising the lives of the boarders.
It has been reported that around 8:40 am, on 16th April the ferry experienced a tilt, which
caused a turn in the South Korean waters (Yang et al. 2015). The captain and the crew members
instructed the passengers to stay put with the purpose of minimizing excitement and chaos.
Around 8:50 am, the ferry tilted 30º to the port (Kee et al. 2017). The captain could have given
the orders for evacuation but he started contacting with the South Korean Coastguard and the
president’s office for decisions that might be initiated during the crisis situation. One of the
major issues that were faced by the management of the crew members were due to the lack of
appropriate risk safety procedures.
The operational issues, lack of proficient communication and the inefficient decision
making of the captain resulted to casualties and death of most of the students travelling by the
ferry to Je-ju Island. It was noted that apart from the orders of the Captain to stay put about 150-
160 passengers and crew jumped off the ship (Kim, Haugen and Utne 2016). Lack of
appropriate training and safety practices among the crew members, insufficient involvement and
communication of the captain with the different patrolling and rescue parties, and the lack of
appropriate decision making capacities resulted to delayed actions. It was noted that the ship
took two and a half hours to sink. The decision of the captain could have saved the life of the
boarders. The aim of undertaking the research is to analyze the case of the South Korean ferry
disaster and thereby identify the causes that led to the same. Moreover, the research also
developed a range of recommended activities that could have been undertaken by the responsible
authorities with the purpose of avoiding the mishap.