Maritime Safety

[Anchor Lead]

President Moon Jae-in says it's about time to inspect how fishing boats are managed in Korea. Some three million people use fishing boats every year. In recent years, the number of accidents involving fishing boats has been on the rise.

[Pkg]

These stores on Yeongheungdo Island in Incheon sell fishing boats. They compete fiercely to lure customers who come here to enjoy fishing in the open sea. There are 15 such stores on Yeongheungdo Island alone, and more than 270 in the city of Incheon.

[Soundbite] (Onwer of fishing boat store on Yeongheungdo) : "We have 700-800 customers on weekends. Sometimes, we see 700 customers in just one day, especially during the peak season."

On days when the stores hold promotional events and offer prizes, customers receive their spots in fishing boats through a random drawing. Various indices attest to the rising popularity of fishing. The number of people who enjoyed fishing surged by over 75 percent in just three years -- from 1,950,000 in 2013 to more than 3.4 million last year. That also means that there are more accidents involving fishing boats and higher demand for rescue services. The number of fishing boat accidents soared from 77 in 2013 to 208 last year. More than 550 accidents were caused by technical problems. They were followed by clashes, grounding, sinking and fires. All this points to serious loopholes in the way fishing boats are managed.

[Soundbite] Kong Kil-young(Professor, Korea Maritime and Ocean University) : "I believe that fishing boats must be enlarged in size, while safety regulations must be strengthened to maximize safety."

The recent accident involving a fishing boat has prompted many to call for overhauling the fishing boat safety management system by restricting fishing hours and the rate at which boats operate.