Associated Press

The commander of the U.S. submarine that sank a Japanese fishing vessel has refused to discuss the accident with investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board until the Navy completes its investigation, officials said today.

NTSB investigators met with Cmdr. Scott Waddle over the weekend when he told them his lawyer recommended he only respond to written questions from the NTSB for the time being and only about search and rescue efforts, NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewiscz said.

Waddle’s information could be crucial to the NTSB effort to determine how the USS Greeneville failed to detect the 190-foot Ehime Maru before it conducted an emergency rapid-ascent drill nine miles south of Diamond Head on Feb. 9.

The Ehime Maru, a commercial fishing training vessel, was headed toward fishing grounds 300 miles southeast of Oahu when the Greeneville crashed into it. The submarine tore through the hull of the ship, sinking it within minutes. The vessel was found by underwater probes Friday night in 2,000 feet of water.

The ship was on a two-month training trip with students from a Japanese high school. Twenty-six people were rescued but nine have not been found — three crewmen, two teachers and four students.

The Navy announced Saturday it would conduct a court of inquiry — its highest-level administrative investigation — to focus on the actions of the Greeneville’s three top officers: Waddle; its executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald K. Pfeifer, and the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Michael J. Coen.

Three admirals will oversee the hearing, which could lead to courts-martial, said Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet. The board is scheduled to convene Thursday.

The hearing is expected to examine the presence of 16 civilian guests on the submarine, two of whom, supervised by crew members, were at key controls when the Greeneville made its rapid ascent. One pulled the levers that initiated the drill.

Today, the Navy and Coast Guard continued the search for the nine missing.

“At this point, it’s going to go on indefinitely,” said Coast Guard spokesman Eric Hedaa. “We have no plans to discontinue the search.”
A deep-sea robot was also combing the ocean floor to evaluate the feasibility of raising the 500-ton Ehime Maru. Japanese officials and families of the missing are pressing the United States to salvage the ship if that is the only way to recover bodies that may be entombed in its hull.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said on Tuesday that Tokyo is ready to assist the United States in recovering the ship if asked. A spokesman for Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said Washington and Tokyo planned to consult on Japan’s offer of help.