The passenger vessel was travelling from Jeju Island to the port city of Mokpo when it ran aground after 8.00pm (1100 GMT) on Wednesday, authorities said.

No serious injuries were reported and 246 passengers and 21 crew were safely moved to a nearby port on rescue ships, Yonhap reported.

Authorities suspect human error may be to blame for the incident.

Coast guard commissioner Kim Yong-jin told reporters that a preliminary assessment suggests the accident was likely caused by “errors” made by the crew. An investigation is ongoing.

A photo released by Yonhap showed the bow of the ferry pressed up against the island’s tree-covered shore.

Another image showed passengers waiting to be rescued, many of them wearing what appear to be life vests.

President Lee Jae Myung ordered “swift rescue efforts” and instructed officials to provide real-time updates to the public, his office said.

In 2014, a ferry carrying more than 470 passengers – mostly pupils on a school trip – capsized off the southwestern coast, killing 304 people in South Korea’s worst maritime disaster.

The salvaged wreck of the Sewol ferry was brought to Mokpo nearly three years later.