The captain of the South Korean ferry that sank two weeks ago claimed its owners ignored his warning that cargo overloading could threaten stability, investigators said today.

Mr Shin was on holiday on the day of the accident that has left more than 300, mostly secondary school students, dead or missing. 

The ferry was piloted on April 16 by stand-in captain Lee Joon Seok, who has been detained along with 14 other crew members involved in navigating the Sewol.

Senior prosecutor Yang Jung Jin refused to say when the captain warned the company and did not know whether Mr Shin had made multiple stability warnings.

A January 24 stability test report by the Korean Register of Shipping showed that the ferry had become top-heavy and less stable after a modification from October 2012 to February 2013 that involved adding more cabins to some of the ship’s floors.

Senior prosecutor Ahn Sang Don announced yesterday that authorities had detained an employee of ferry owner Chonghaejin Marine Co Ltd on suspicions of accidental homicide stemming from professional negligence in connection with the sinking. 

Mr Ahn said that the authorities were seeking to detain another company employee on the same suspicion.

The ship carried 476 people, mostly from a single secondary school. Only 174 people survived, including 22 of the 29 crew members.

After several days of very slow progress, divers succeeded in recovering a further 12 bodies on Tuesday, sparking fresh outbursts of familial grief.

Divers have recovered 212 bodies from the wreckage, fighting strong currents and floating debris inside the ship again yesterday as they searched for the 90 passengers still unaccounted for.

Families of the  school students missing and presumed dead attacked President Park Geun Hye on Tuesday, dismissing her apology for government handling of the disaster as insincere.

They called for the speedy retrieval of the missing. 

Ms Park visited a memorial set up in the students’ home city of Ansan.

Some angry family members shouted at the president, demanding an apology and removing condolence flowers sent by her and other top officials.