A special committee tasked with investigating the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster is set to wrap up its mission without being able to confirm what caused the ill-fated ship to sink.

The committee decided on Tuesday to adopt a report on its probe of nearly four years to reflect two opposing views after failing to produce a unified opinion.

As a result, the report will reflect both the argument that the sinking was due to problems with the ship and the view that external factors caused the ship to go down with more than 300 on board.

Such a move is identical to the one made by a state committee that looked into the ferry sinking back in 2018.

Bereaved families of the sinking’s victims have strongly protested the decision by the committee, whose term will end on Friday.

The committee will finalize the report and submit it to the president and National Assembly by September 10.