Advertiser Staff

U.S. Coast Guard officials retracted a mid-day announcement that they had ended a search for the missing crew members of the Ehime Maru and this afternoon vowed to continue the search “until further notice.”

“The Coast Guard has continued the search pending a government to government request to extend the search,” said spokesman Lt. Greg Fondran.
He could not elaborate further on the nature of the requests.

“The search for the missing men will continue until further notice,” Fondran said. “The search and rescue asset currently on on scene is the USS Port Royal, a navy cruiser from Pearl Harbor.”

Coast Guard and Navy officials are currently working to arrange search and recovery operations for the sunken vessel, he said.

The Coast Guard will be enforcing a safety zone around the search and recovery area, he said.