Two weeks after a ferry sank off South Korea's southern cost, divers have recovered 212 bodies from the wreckage, but they are still fighting strong currents and floating debris in the search for 90 passengers who are still missing.

After several days of sluggish search efforts because of bad weather, divers retrieved more than a dozen bodies from the ship on the ocean floor, triggering a fresh outpouring of emotion by family members waiting for the return of their loved ones.

The Sewol was carrying 476 people, mostly from a single high school. Only 174 people survived, including 22 of the 29 crew members.

Meanwhile, relatives of high school students killed in the sinking dismissed president Park Geun-hye's apology for the government's handling of the disaster, and called for the quick retrieval of the missing.

Ms Park apologised for the government's inept initial response to the sinking, amid rising indignation over claims by the victims' relatives that the government did not do enough to rescue or protect their loved ones.

Earlier yesterday, she visited a memorial in Ansan city where the high school students are from. Some angry family members shouted at Ms Park, demanded an apology and moved away condolence flowers sent by her and other senior officials, according to South Korean media reports.

"What Park did at the memorial altar was like coming there to shoot an advertisement, surrounded by bodyguards," said Yu Gyeong-geun, the father of one of the students.

All 15 crew members involved in navigating the Sewol have already been formally arrested. The seven surviving crew who have not been arrested or detained held non-marine jobs such as chef or steward, according to prosecutors.