Bush may halt VIP cruises

The search for survivors and the quest for answers continued yesterday from O‘ahu to the Pentagon.

It prompted President Bush to suggest that the military review its practice of allowing civilians to ride aboard sophisticated warships like the submarine that sank a Japanese fishing vessel seven days ago.

"I think what’s going to be necessary is for Secretary Rumsfeld and the Defense Department to review all policy regarding civilian activity during military exercises," Bush told reporters at the White House.

He added, "I want to reiterate what I said to the prime minister of Japan: I’m deeply sorry about the accident that took place, our nation is sorry that the accident happened, and we will do everything we can to help recover the bodies."

National Transportation Safety Board investigator John Hammerschmidt said the NTSB plans to interview each of the 16 civilians who were aboard the USS Greeneville. Associated Press

National Transportation Safety Board officials investigating the collision last Friday between the USS Greeneville and the Ehime Maru said yesterday that they now plan to interview each of the 16 civilians who were aboard the submarine.

Safety board investigator John Hammerschmidt said the civilians, two of whom were at control stations when the submarine surfaced beneath the Japanese trawler, will be interviewed to give investigators "a full and complete picture" of the events leading up to the collision.

Two of the civilians gave the first direct public accounts of what happened aboard the ship in interviews broadcast on NBC’s "Today" show. They both stressed that the commander of the submarine and other crew members made several checks of the surface using sonar and the periscope before surfacing.

Asked whether he thought the civilians had distracted the crew, one of the civilians, Todd Thoman of Houston, said: "I adamantly deny ... that is the actual case. This is a vessel that the minute we walked on board ... this was a business, and it was nothing but professional, and not one thing got done on that submarine that the commanding officer was not made aware of and in total control of."

Civilians are still being allowed to take trips on U.S. submarines, Navy spokesman Cmdr. Greg Smith said last night. He declined, however, to comment on a New York Times report that the Navy had already ordered submarine commanders not to allow civilians to sit at the controls, at least until the investigation is over, or to come aboard subs conducting emergency training maneuvers.

Lt. Cmdr. Conrad Chun, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said he could not confirm that report.

"When something like this happens, we take it as an opportunity to pause and take a look into how we do things," Chun said.

The military services routinely invite civilians — including business and civic leaders, politicians and journalists — to witness or participate in military exercises, a practice they believe builds support for the military in the general public.

Coast Guard officials said they would not end their search and instead would honor a request made Wednesday by the Japanese government to continue looking for the nine people missing after the Greeneville sank the Ehime Maru. Twenty-six of the men and teenage boys aboard were rescued.

"The Coast Guard has continued the search pending a government-to-government request to extend the search," said spokesman Lt. Greg Fondran.

Japan objected when the Coast Guard on Wednesday announced the end of the search, said Japanese Consul General Minoru Shibuya. Shibuya declined to speculate on Japan’s reaction if the search were called off anytime soon, but said high-ranking diplomats had been dispatched to Washington to discuss the U.S. government’s handling of the incident.

Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, may receive a preliminary report on the investigation of the accident as early as today, Navy officials at the Pentagon and at Pearl Harbor said.

A Navy effort to examine the Ehime Maru, which sank in 1,800 feet of water, was on hold yesterday.

The Scorpio II, a remotely operated deep-diving submersible, remained at Pearl Harbor yesterday aboard the C-Commando because weather conditions where the Ehime Maru sank were too rough.

The National Weather Service estimated winds of 25 to 30 knots and seas up to 18 feet but anticipated conditions could improve dramatically as early as tomorrow.

Chun said Scorpio II could not raise the ship, but would survey bottom conditions.

If the remains of any people from the Ehime Maru are found, the submersible may bring them to the surface, he said.

"It is the hardest issue to address," Chun said. "If possible, yes. If it is within their power to do that, it will."

A Navy salvage expert speaking yesterday at a Pentagon briefing said raising the Ehime Maru would be "extremely challenging."

"The feasibility of salvage is something that we’re going to be looking at during the survey that will be done," said Tom Salmon, director of Operations and Ocean Engineering at the Naval Sea Systems Command.

"It’s a very complex problem," he said. "The ship is hundreds of tons. It’s in nearly 2,000 feet of water. It would be a technically very challenging operation."

The Navy rejected reports that the Greeneville had been operating outside a submarine training area.

Although a "submarine test and trial area," marked on nautical charts, is near the site of the collision, Chun said submarines are not restricted to that area, which is about 4 miles by 14 miles.

"The designated area does not define limits of where submarines may operate," he said. "Submarines are not constrained to operate within these boundaries. They are simply precautionary and intended to alert vessels to the possible presence of submarines."

Advertiser staff writer David Waite, contributing writer Johnny Brannon, The Associated Press and the Washington Post contributed to this report.

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