# Ferry Sinks **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2014, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248 "2014-04-16T12:13:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/1 "2014-04-16T12:13:33Z")
Happened today. [Ferry sank in South Korea](http://news.yahoo.com/292-missing-4-dead-south-korea-ferry-disaster-105427021.html). Most of the passengers are high school students on a long-weekend holiday. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/2 "2014-04-16T14:26:13Z")
There were 459 people aboard with almost 300 missing, so it wouldn’t surprise me if there ended up being at least a couple hundred dead. ---
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/3 "2014-04-16T17:02:52Z")
I live in Korea and this is as big a clusterfuck as the Daegu subway fire from 2003. Against all rules of survival in this instance, many students who might have survived were told to stay below deck. The boat tipped over, putting too much pressure on cabin windows to possibly open. There is still a search ongoing for hundreds below deck but there’s no chance they’re still alive. I feel for the parents. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/4 "2014-04-16T17:37:00Z")
Stay below deck! :dubious: Man, those poor kids. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/5 "2014-04-16T17:37:56Z")
Stay off ferries, people! And helicopters if you are a rock-star! ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/6 "2014-04-16T18:11:24Z")
This is horrible. And it’s not as though anyone could have really predicted this - I mean, traveling by ferry for a school trip isn’t exactly reckless behavior. It’s just an all-round awful situation . . . ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/7 "2014-04-17T13:01:39Z")
I am shocked. when was the last time that (possibly) hundreds perished in a sinking ship from a developed nation? I tend to think of this kind of thing from somewhere like India where the ferry is in terrible condition and is overloaded with people by two and a half times. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/8 "2014-04-17T13:56:56Z")
> [@Greekfreak](#): > > Against all rules of survival in this instance, many students who might have survived were told to stay below deck. My (very limited) understanding of Korean culture is that it is very taboo to challenge authority figures. So it’s not terribly surprising to me that when the captain told everyone to stay put, pretty much everyone stayed put, despite the fact that the ship was sideways and sinking. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/9 "2014-04-17T14:01:38Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > I am shocked. when was the last time that (possibly) hundreds perished in a sinking ship from a developed nation? Sadly, it’s only been three years since the [Bulgaria](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgaria_%28ship%29) went down with the loss of 112 people The Costa Concordia was 2012, but that was “only” 32 dead. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/10 "2014-04-17T14:56:44Z")
Were there enough life jackets available for everyone? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/11 "2014-04-17T15:24:05Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Were there enough life jackets available for everyone? Quite likely. South Korea isn’t some backwater hell-hole. There really are inspections, training, etc., for those vessels. Every time I rode one while I lived in Korea, there was no practical difference in what I noticed on the Korean ferries compared to the ferries I rode in the UK and the US. ETA: Friend of mine in Busan has a son attending their maritime academy. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/12 "2014-04-17T15:29:01Z")
BBC says they’re investigating reports that the captain was one of the first off the boat as soon as it got into trouble. I heard there was some some sort of loud crunching sound, so I figured they ran into another boat or something. But now it looks like nothing was run into that anyone can see, although it;s still early. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/13 "2014-04-17T15:29:15Z")
All from the same high school… Can’t imagine losing 300 classmates. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/14 "2014-04-17T15:51:37Z")
Looking at the pictures, it looks like it’s turned completely upside down just before it went under. How does that happen? I thought marine vessels naturally float upright. There doesn’t seem to be any damage to the ship. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/15 "2014-04-17T15:55:58Z")
And yet CNN’s only talking about Flight 370, still. Life jackets aren’t going to do any good if the compartments filled with water. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/16 "2014-04-17T16:01:12Z")
Maybe the ferry ran into MH370. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/17 "2014-04-17T16:26:15Z")
I read about this and I had to read several different articles to actually believe that over 200 people still are lost. Unreal. And totally, totally tragic. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/18 "2014-04-17T17:24:09Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Stay off ferries, people! And helicopters if you are a rock-star! And horses, motorcycles, and skis – the three unpredictable things I will never get onto. I was on a ferry that sank (in fact two of them), but not on their fatal voyage. One was the William Carson, off Newfoundland. The other was the one in Egypt’s Lake Nasser that sank in I think 1985, with most of the fatalities eaten by crocodiles. It was set afire by passengers below decks cooking their meals on open fires that ignited glass jugs of gasoline being smuggled into Sudan, both elements of which were regular practice, and happening on the trip I was on, too. I’ve also been in several helicopters, but they behaved, too. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/19 "2014-04-17T17:26:55Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Life jackets aren’t going to do any good if the compartments filled with water. The ferry took a fair amount of time to sink (anyone know how long?). Probably enough time for most people to put on a life jacket and jump overboard. But the crew told everyone to stay in their seats. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248/20 "2014-04-17T17:36:53Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > But the crew told everyone to stay in their seats. I would have punched the first mother-fucker who told me to stay put right in the throat, then told them to kiss my white ass as it sailed over the railing to safety. Unbelievable! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferry-sinks/686248.md?page=2)