SEOUL, Nov. 7 -- South Korean National Assembly passed three bills Friday to deal with the deadly ferry disaster, more than 200 days after the ferry Sewol sank off the southeastern coast on April 16 leaving more than 300 dead or missing.

The Ferry Sewol Special Act, or the bill to form an investigative committee for a probe into the maritime disaster, was passed with 212 votes in favor, 12 against and 27 abstentions. About 50 lawmakers failed to participate in the vote.

The act was based on an agreement made by rival political parties on Oct. 31 to form the committee comprised of 17 special investigators. Candidates for the committee's chief will be recommended by the bereaved families of the victims.

For as long as 18 months, the committee will look into the country's worst peacetime disaster in decades, which claimed more than 300 lives, mostly high school students.

Separately, a special prosecutor will make a probe into the accident for as long as 180 days. The prosecutor will be given authorities to investigate and indict.

The so-called Yoo Byung-eun Act was passed with 224 votes in favor, 4 in opposition and 17 abstentions. The act will make it possible for the law enforcement authorities to expropriate assets and property from the criminal and third parties, including the criminal's family members, when the worst disaster occurs.

Yoo, the fugitive owner of the ferry, was found dead on June 12 in the southern city of Suncheon, and his eldest son was arrested at a hideout in a town just outside of Seoul on July 25.

The son was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday for misappropriating 7.39 billion won (7.3 million U.S. dollars) from the ferry Sewol's operator Cheonghaejin Marine and six other affiliates.

The revised bill to form government ministries was passed with 146 in favor, 71 against and 32 abstentions. The bill stipulates that the National Safety Ministry will be launched to serve as a control tower for national safety and disaster management.

The firefighting agency and the coast guard will be disbanded and absorbed into the ministry.