Ehime Maru memorial receives preliminary approval

•	Graphic: Memorial to Ehime Maru victims
•	Navy ends Ehime Maru recovery operation
	Video of divers recovering items from the ship (2.5 Mb). QuickTime plug-in required.
•	Special report: Collision at Sea

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Plans to establish a memorial at Kaka'ako Waterfront Park in memory of the victims of the Ehime Maru tragedy received the first preliminary approval yesterday from the state.

A delegation of officials from Ehime prefecture in Japan presented plans for the memorial's design to the Hawai'i Community Development Authority, the agency that oversees development of parks.

The authority adopted a resolution supporting the concept of the memorial, which would consist of nine, sloping black-granite blocks.

The memorial, designed by Uwajima Fisheries High School graduate Kyosuke Tamai, would be engraved with the outline of a ship surrounding an anchor from the Ehime Maru. Other engravings would include the school emblem; the names, titles and ages of the nine victims; and a map showing the accident site, the site of the Navy's recovery effort, the ship's final resting place and the Aloha Tower.

Yoshikatsu Matsuoka, guidance department director for the Ehime Prefectural Board of Education, told authority members that the purpose of the memorial would be to remember the accident, comfort lost souls, pray for safety on the seas, educate children and strengthen the friendship between Ehime and Hawai'i.

Matsuoka said his government would raise the estimated $65,000 for construction. It would also provide $1 million in general liability insurance and maintain the memorial with the assistance of The Japan-America Society.

Officials hope to hold a dedication ceremony for the memorial Feb. 9, the one-year anniversary of the accident that killed nine Japanese men and boys when their fisheries training vessel was accidentally sunk by the surfacing USS Greeneville submarine.