That’s two cowardly sea captains in the dock.
Like the captain of the Costa Concordia two years ago, the South Korean ferry captain who allegedly jumped ship when his vessel capsized — leaving behind nearly 300 doomed passengers — has been arrested, officials said.
Capt. Lee Joon-seok, 68, had rushed into the arms of rescuers as his passengers died Wednesday, officials charge. Many of the victims were high-school students on an overnight class trip.
“The captain escaped before the passengers,” said senior prosecutor Yang Jung-jin in announcing the arrest Friday.
Lee’s arrest echoes that of cruise-ship captain Francesco Schettino, currently on trial in Italy for abandoning his ship, the Costa Concordia, off the coast of Tuscany in January 2012, as 32 passengers perished.
Lee is being held while South Korean officials investigate his role in the disaster. In addition to abandoning passengers in need, a transcript of a ship-to-shore radio exchange obtained by The Associated Press shows Lee waited at least a half-hour before ordering the ship’s evacuation.
Several survivors have reported they never even heard the order to evacuate the capsized Sewol.
“Currently the body of the ship has listed to the left. The containers have listed, as well,” a crew member radioed South Korean transportation officials five minutes after issuing a distress call, the transcript shows.
An officer responds, “OK. Any loss of human life or injuries?”
The crew member responds, “It’s impossible to check right now. The body of the ship has tilted, and it’s impossible to move.”
The officer instructs, “Yes, OK. Please wear life jackets and prepare as the people might have to abandon ship.”
But instead of instructing his passengers to start making their way out of the ship, the captain told them to put on life jackets and stay where they were.
Lee also may have broken the law by being on a rest break when the Sewol attempted to make a tricky turn within an area off the port of Incheon where many islands are clustered, officials said.
Two other crew members who were on the bridge — and who are believed to have caused the capsizing by taking the turn at too great a speed — have also been arrested.
They too failed to carry out the necessary measures to save passenger lives, the prosecutor said.
For whatever satisfaction victims’ family members took in Lee’s arrest, the day was still a grim one for rescue efforts.
The last bit of the ship still above the water — its blue keel — slipped under on Friday night despite ongoing efforts to pump air into the 6,852-ton vessel and prop it up with underwater air bags.
Emergency personnel had to mark the spot with beige buoys.
Rescue divers had been hampered by murky, turbulent waters and were finally able to get inside the ship late in Friday — but did not immediately find any passengers dead or alive.
The only victim to be found Friday was discovered inland.
A vice principal of the high school that had been aboard for a class trip was found hanged from a tree on the nearby island of Jindo in an apparent suicide.
In his suicide note, the vice principal, identified as Kang Min-kyu, said he felt guilty for surviving and wanted to take responsibility for what happened because he had personally been in charge of the students, officials said. He asked that his ashes be scattered where the ferry sank.
Only 174 passengers survived the maritime tragedy, out of 475 aboard.