The captain of the ferry Sewol has been sentenced to 36 years in prison. Maritime trade union Nautilus’ general secretary has said to be appalled at the severity of the sentence.

The Sewol sank in April off the South-Korean coast with the loss of more than 300 lives, mostly school children.

Sentence

Although acquitted of homicide, captain Lee Joon-Seok now faces 36 years in prison after a five month trial. Prosecutors had called for the death penalty. Captain Lee was found guilty of violating ‘seamen’s law’ and abandonment causing death and injury.

Park Gi-ho, the ferry’s chief engineer, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to thirty years. The remaining thirteen crew members — including the chief officer and second mate — were sentenced between five to twenty years.

Appalled at Scapegoating of Seafarers

Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson said he was appalled at the severity of the sentences. ‘From the outset, there has been a concerted drive to criminalise the officers and crew in this incident,’ he said, ‘and these extreme penalties take the practice of scapegoating seafarers to an unprecedented level.’

‘We have consistently raised concern about whether the crew would be given a fair trial,’ he added. ‘They weren’t and we did not expect a fair outcome. This isn’t justice — it’s an act of shifting responsibility from a government safety agency and the operating company for failings and outright illegality. Thus the sentences meted out are about assuaging understandable public anger and seem grossly unfair given the other known mitigating factors that have been highlighted in this case.’

‘Issues including training, experience, safety management, ship design and construction, and the effectiveness of the regulatory regime are all critical factors in this disaster,’ Mr Dickinson pointed out. ‘It is all too easy for the South Korean authorities to pin the blame on the officers and crew, while ignoring systemic shortcomings in maritime regulations and enforcement.’

The South-Korean prosecution will, however, appeal the sentences. The deceased’s families feel the sentences are too low.