The sailing is one night and one morning. The legal and salvage timeline runs three years in public view.
English anniversary pieces often skip the 2012 rebuild, which Korean investigators did not.
Timeline
- Built in Japan
The hull enters service as Ferry Naminoue before its later sale to a Korean operator.
- Rebuilt as Sewol
Chonghaejin Marine converts the ship, adding structure that later reports tied to reduced stability.
- Leaves Incheon late
The Jeju sailing departs behind schedule with a school party and commercial cargo aboard.
- Capsizes off Jindo
The list begins in the morning in the Maenggol Channel. 172 people are rescued; 304 are later counted dead or missing.
- National mourning
Yellow ribbons, family sit-ins and the resignation offer of Prime Minister Chung Hong-won dominate Korean public life.
- Owner identified dead
Police announce that a body found in June is Yoo Byung-eun, the fugitive owner figure.
- First crew verdicts
A district court sentences Lee Joon-seok to 36 years for negligence and acquits him of homicide.
- Life for homicide
Gwangju High Court convicts the captain of homicide by wilful negligence and imposes life imprisonment.
- Supreme Court affirms
The life sentence and the wilful-negligence homicide theory are upheld. Other crew terms are also settled on appeal.
- Hull raised
Salvage lifts Sewol so remaining missing persons can be sought and the ship examined as a whole exhibit.
After 2017 the ship is an object on land. The captain’s conviction was already final.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice. Not a how-to. Graphic detail is withheld. Wars belong in a separate atlas.