Lee Joon-Seok, 69, was acquitted of homicide, for which he could have been executed, the BBC reported.
The South Korean vessel went down with the loss of more than 300 lives, many of them schoolchildren.
Judges accepted his negligence in abandoning the sinking ferry did not equal an intent to kill.
Sewol’s chief engineer, Park Gi-ho, received 30 years for homicide for not assisting two injured crew.
The
