A ferry operator’s chief executive and four employees caused the sinking of a South Korean ship , prosecutors claimed today.

The doomed ferry, Sewol, exceeded its cargo limit on 246 trips — nearly every voyage it made in which it reported cargo — in the 13 months before it sank, according to documents.

Frustrated relatives of the scores still missing from the capsized ferry Sewol have staged a marathon confrontation with South Korea’s fisheries minister and the coastguard chief.