Posted on: Thursday, March 15, 2001

Waddle apologizes to Onishi

Advertiser Staff

Cmdr. Scott Waddle met yesterday with Captain Hisao Onishi of the Ehime Maru to apologize for the Feb. 9 collision that took the lives of nine Japanese crew members, including four teenage boys.

Yoshio Mochizuki, the Japanese parliamentary secretary, attended the meeting and reported that Waddle:

• Apologized for the accident and the deaths that resulted.
• Asked that Onishi tell the families of Ehime Maru crew members that he would like to visit Japan and apologize personally.
• Apologized to Onishi for the Japanese captain's grief and suffering.
• Said he understood that Onishi and his crew did all they could to save the lives of those who drowned.
• Asked that Onishi tell the principal and others at the Uwajima Maritime High School and those in the Ehime prefectural government that he would like to visit them in Japan and apologize in person.