The 11 other crew members were indicted on less serious charges, including wrongfully steering the vessel, abandoning a ship and leaving passengers in a sinking boat without making efforts to rescue them, Yang said.
The Sewol was carrying 476 people when it sank off the southern coast on April 16 after listing sharply to one side. The confirmed death toll now stands at 284, with 20 still missing.
On Thursday, investigators addressed a number of theories on the causes of the disaster.
The 20-year-old ferry had instability problems after it underwent renovations to add more passenger cabins two years earlier, Yang said.
Its regular captain, who was off duty on the day of the accident, had earlier told prosecutors that the ferry operator -Chonghaejin Marine - "brushed aside" repeated warnings that the 20-year-old ship had stability issues following a renovation in 2017.
On the day it sank, the ship was carrying 2,142 metric tons of cargo, despite its maximum safety load being 1,077 tons, Yang said, and in order to meet the obligatory waterline, 1,308 tons of ballast water had been drained out.
When the ferry reached Maenggol Channel, notorious for fast currents, the captain was absent from the pilothouse, and a navigator and a helmsmen were in charge when it made a sharp turn, YTN TV said, citing investigators.
This caused its ill-secured cargo to shift, and the ferry to list irretrievably to one side before capsizing.
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