Japanese, Navy discuss reparations over Ehime Maru

Advertiser Staff and News Services

U.S. Navy officers met with Japanese officials and lawyers yesterday to discuss compensation for survivors and relatives of those killed when the USS Greeneville sank a Japanese fisheries training vessel off O'ahu.

They discussed the process by which the Japanese will submit requests for compensation.

The Japanese did not present a figure. The group will meet again this month.

Attending the meeting were Rear Adm. Robert Chaplin, Nobuyoshi Yano, vice governor of Ehime prefecture, where the training vessel was based, and lawyers for survivors and families of the victims.

Lawyer Yasuo Hatakeyama said the Japanese families insist on compensation for "spiritual pain," noting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder among some of the rescued students, Kyodo News Agency reported.

Yesterday's meeting was held at a U.S. naval base in Japan. It was a follow-up to one held between the Navy and family members April 11, said Jon Yoshishige, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Nine boys and men were killed when the Ehime Maru was rammed by the Greeneville on Feb. 9. Twenty-six others on the Uwajima Fisheries High School vessel were rescued.

Yoshishige said relatives of the victims can file for financial loss.

He said the survivors can file for losses due to medical care, pain and suffering, emotional distress, anguish, lost income and out-of-pocket expenses.