QUEEN JENUVIA II reportedly hit rocks near the uninhabited island of Jogdo, off the coast of Jangsan Island in Sinan County. While there were no fatalities, 27 people sustained minor injuries from the impact.

Footage from the scene showed passengers, seemingly calm and wearing life vests, waiting on the top deck to be picked up by rescue boats. The bow of the ferry appeared stuck on the edge of a small island, though the vessel remained upright in fair weather conditions.

The coast guard, which received the report late Wednesday, immediately deployed 20 vessels and a plane for the rescue operation. South Korea's Prime Minister Kim Min-seok ordered all available resources to be utilized.

Passengers recounted the scary moment on social media. "There was a loud bang, and then the ship tilted," one passenger was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.

The vessel has since been successfully docked at a nearby port. The cause of the incident is under investigation, with the coast guard looking into potential negligence by the captain and navigating officer. Arrests related to the incident have been reported in local media.

The grounding occurred near the site where the SEWOL ferry sank in 2014, killing more than 300 people. That tragedy was determined to be an "utterly preventable tragedy" caused by a combination of human error, corporate greed, and government negligence.

© Shippax