Posted on: Saturday, May 12, 2001

Ehime Maru recovery study under review

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Navy officials met with federal and state agencies yesterday to review portions of a study on the potential impacts of moving the sunken Japanese fisheries training vessel Ehime Maru.

The Ehime Maru sank Feb. 9 nine miles off Diamond Head after it was rammed by a Navy submarine, the USS Greeneville. Nine peole aboard the Ehime Maru, including four students and two teachers, were killed.

The vessel lies in about 2,000 feet of water and the Navy plans to move it to shallow waters where divers can search the ship for the missing crew members and personal effects.

Before that can happen, an environmental assessment needs to be completed. Navy officials expect to complete the assessment next month.

Preliminary results of the study call for an inventory of bird habitats before and after the operation. During the move, Fish & Wildlife Service workers would be aboard oil skimmers to care for any birds that come in contact with oil from the Ehime Maru.

Any cargo nets, longline fishing gear and other equipment that might be lost during the move would be removed from the vessel, the assessment stated. A survey also would be done to ensure no material is left behind.

The assessment also will examine potential sites to which the ship can be moved. Three areas being considered include a site about a mile south of the airport's reef runway, one mile west of Barbers Point Deep Draft Harbor, and one mile south of 'Ewa Beach.