(Bloomberg) -- Divers retrieved more bodies from a South Koreanferry that sank last week, as investigators focused on whether thevessel was carrying more cargo than it was designed to hold.

The official death toll reached 171 today. It’s likely to reach302, with no survivors found since 174 of the 476 passengers andcrew were rescued on April 16, the day the ‘Sewol’ sank off theKorean peninsula’s southwest coast. South Korea’s UnificationMinistry said North Korea expressed its “deepest condolences” overthe incident, which may be the South’s worst maritime disastersince 1970.

About 700 divers are searching the third- and fourth-levelpassenger cabins, hampered by strong currents and poor visibilityas they follow guide ropes through the vessel, Ko Myung Suk,director general of the equipment and technology bureau at theKorea Coast Guard, said in a televised briefing this morning.

The Sewol’s captain and six of its crew members have beenarrested, while 41 other crew members and officials from the ship’sowner and operator Chonghaejin Marine Co. and related companieshave been barred from overseas travel, prosecutor Yang Joong Jinsaid by phone from Mokpo. The investigation team is still trying toconfirm if the vessel was carrying too much cargo and if thatcontributed to the sinking, he said.

“It seems that all they cared about at Chonghaejin Marine is thevolume of the cargo and not the actual weight, because the companycharges by volume,” Yang said. “We will announce the cargo weightwhen it’s confirmed.”

Investigators today raided another ferry owned by ChonghaejinMarine, the ‘Ohamana,’ Yonhap News reported.

Repeated calls to Chonghaejin Marine weren’t answered.

Ferry Expansion

Investigators have said the probe includes whether expansionwork on the ferry contributed to its sinking by making it unstable.The 20-year-old Japan-made ferry had a fifth-deck added to boostcapacity to 956 passengers and crew, 116 more than when ChonghaejinMarine bought it from Japanese ferry operator A-Line in October2012.

The modifications passed safety inspections by the KoreanRegister of Shipping, an official at the inspector told Bloomberglast week, asking not to be named citing internal policy. Theofficial didn’t comment on how much cargo the refitted ferry wasdesigned to hold.

After the redesign, the ferry had a maximum cargo capacity of987 tons, compared with 2,437 tons previously, the office ofopposition lawmaker Kim Yung Rok said in an e-mailed statement,citing information from Korean Register.

Chonghaejin Marine official Kim Jae Beom indicated last week theferry wasn’t overloaded, in comments broadcast by YTN. It leftIncheon port on April 15 with 3,600 tons of cargo, compared with amaximum limit of 3,960 tons, he said.

Korean Register didn’t return calls seeking comment today.

Accident-Free

The vessel was built by Japan’s Hayashikane Dockyard Co. in 1994and had no accidents during 18 years of operation in Japan,according to Takaharu Miyazono, a spokesman for A-Line.

The probe will also include the finances of Chonghaejin Marine,its related companies and owner Yoo Byung Eun, according to Kim HoeJong, a prosecutor in Incheon, the Sewol’s departure port and wherethe company has offices. Prosecutors raided Chonghaejin Marine’sIncheon offices on April 17.

“The target of our probe includes the owner family led by YooByung Eun, focusing on any embezzlement and assets concealed acrossaffiliates,” Kim said by phone today. “Another prosecutor isinvestigating corrupt acts in the marine transportation business,which seem to be prevalent across the industry and in theinstitutions supervising it.”

Any embezzled funds or other assets recovered by investigatorswould be used for compensation for victims and their families, hesaid.

Internal Audit

Privately-held Chonghaejin Marine posted an operating loss of785.4 million won ($756,000) last year on sales of 32 billion won,according to its 2013 audit filed to the regulatory FinancialSupervisory Service on April 18, two days after the sinking. Thecompany had cash reserves of 622 million won, total assets of 33.1billion won and 26.6 billion won of liabilities as of December, theaudit filing showed.

Chonhaiji Co., a closely-held maker of vessel parts, owns 39percent stake in Chonghaejin Marine, the report shows. Chonhaiji is43 percent-owned by another unlisted company I-One- I Holdings Co.,whose biggest shareholders are Yoo Hyuk Gi and Yoo Dae Kyoon,according to the companies’ audit reports.

There is no mention of Yoo Byung Eun in any of the audit reportsof Chonghaejin Marine, Chonhaiji or I-One-I Holdings.

Attempts to reach Yoo via Chonghaejin Marine weren’tsuccessful.

A church operated by Yoo Byung Eun’s family is also beinginvestigated as a potential source of slush funds, prosecutor Yangin Mokpo said.

Insurance Policy

The Sewol is insured by Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance Co.for up to $7.8 billion won for the period ending Oct. 4, 2014 andan additional $3.6 billion won by the Korea Shipping Association,according to the audit report. Chonghaejin also has an insurancepolicy to cover compensation liability of up to $10 million for theSewol.

South Korea’s financial regulator will begin a specialinspection of banks that provided loans to affiliates ofChonghaejin Marine to review whether the loans were legallyprovided and risks related to them properly managed, the FSS saidtoday in an e-mail. The banks include Korea Development Bank,Industrial Bank of Korea, Woori Bank and Kyongnam Bank.

The Sewol sinking was the second accident in less than a monthinvolving a Chonghaejin ferry, after its “Democracy No. 5” collidedwith a fishing boat near Incheon late last month, with nocasualties, a company official said last week, asking not to benamed citing company policy.

No Safety Training

Some Sewol crew members told prosecutors they didn’t receivesafety training, prosecutor Yang has said. The company’s auditreport showed it spent only 541,000 won on crew training last year,though it’s not clear if training is included under other expenseitems.

More than two thirds of the passengers on the vessel were agroup of 339 students and teachers from Danwon High School, nearSeoul. The incident may be Korea’s worst maritime disaster sincethe ‘Namyoung’ ferry sank in 1970, killing 323.

President Park Geun Hye’s approval rating slipped to 57 percentyesterday after reaching as high as 71 percent on April 18, the dayafter she visited victims’ families near the site of the sinking,Lee Taek Soo, head of Seoul-based polling company Realmeter, saidon his Twitter feed today. The drop in approval appears to bedriven by unhappiness at the government’s handling of the disaster,Lee said.

--With assistance from Seyoon Kim, Shinhye Kang and Sharon Choin Seoul.

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