Navy continues to assess chances
of recovering sunken fishing boat
By Greg Tyler, Sasebo
bureau chief
Gregory Messier /
Courtesy of U.S. Pacific Fleet
The remotely-operated craft Phoenix III is lowered into the ocean south of Diamond Head,
Hawaii, to begin its 2,000-foot descent to the Ehime Maru late last week. Phoenix is being
launched from the Ocean Hercules. |
Efforts are ongoing to raise and move the Ehime Maru, a Japanese high
school fishing boat accidentally sunk by a U.S. submarine in waters near Hawaii in
February.
The Navy is attempting to retrieve the remains of five sailors and
four high school students who died in the mishap, along with personal belongings.
Last week, the Phoenix III, a remotely controlled craft, reached the
sunken ship at about 2,000 feet.
Pacific Fleet spokesman Jon Yoshishige said the Phoenix III
“… conducted some calibration procedures, surveyed the Ehime Maru, and then
proceeded to cut guy wires and communication wires from the center mast to facilitate mast
removal.”
The Navy never has salvaged a ship as large as the 830-ton Ehime Maru
from such a depth. Yoshishige said there is “no guarantee the Ehime Maru will stay
intact during the recovery operation.”
The current goal is to prepare the 190-foot Ehime Maru for transport
to shallower water by the Rockwater 2, a ship arriving in early August.
Once the Ehime Maru is moved, Navy and Japanese divers will attempt
to locate the bodies.
The Rockwater 2 will move the Japanese vessel a mile south of
Honolulu International Airport’s Reef Runway, to about 115 feet, he said.
Once the Ehime Maru is in place off the airport, divers must navigate
the tight and damaged compartments. “Not every space may be physically accessible and
some spaces may not be safe for divers to enter,” stated a Navy report. “Safety
will be paramount throughout the recovery operation.”
The recovery of the remains and personal effects is slated to occur
in late August and September.
The Navy is “confident we can successfully conduct this
operation … but there is no guarantee of success,” Yoshishige said. “Damage
to Ehime Maru might be greater than we anticipated, and therefore there’d be a
greater danger to the divers.”
The final stage of the operation involves preparing and relocating
the Ehime Maru to a deep-water site past the 12-nautical-mile limit of U.S. territorial
waters.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Back to July stories
Page Two news roundup
Stories from June, 2001
Stories from May, 2001
Stories from April, 2001
Stories from March, 2001
Stories from February,2001
Stories from January, 2001
Stories from December, 2000
Stories from November, 2000
Stories from October, 2000
Stories from August and September, 2000
Stories from June and July, 2000
Home |
