The operator first notified the province on 2 October. According to the paper, Seaworld Express Ferry wants to raise funds by selling SANTA MONICA. The province offered to keep paying its annual compensation for the losses caused by the Chuja call, to consider covering repair costs, and asked the company to keep the ship in service at least until she is sold. The operator said the rally did not affect its decision and that a short extension would have brought no practical benefit.

SANTA MONICA, a 75.5-metre catamaran built by Incat in 2022 for 606 passengers and 86 cars, leaves Chuja for Jeju in the morning and returns in the afternoon, which lets residents make day trips to the main island. The only other passenger ferry, Songrim Shipping's SONGRIM BLUE OCEAN, runs the opposite way, so residents will need at least two nights on Jeju for a hospital visit. Jeju Province says that under current law it cannot order the service to continue unless the route is cut off completely, and plans to study a publicly operated ferry service.

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