Ehime Maru makes final voyage to permanent site off Kalaeloa
| • | Advertiser special: Collision at Sea: The Ehime Maru and Greeneville |
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Navy successfully moved the sunken Ehime Maru out of the shallow water off Honolulu Airport's reef runway and dropped it to its final home, a spot 12 miles off Kalaeloa in water 6,000 feet deep.
The move ended an unprecedented, $60 million search and recovery project that involved internationally known specialists in maritime recovery techniques. It was the first time a vessel so large had been recovered from water so deep.
The Ehime Maru sank in 2,000 feet of water on Feb. 9, when it was struck by the USS Greeneville, a Navy submarine practicing an emergency surfacing maneuver off Diamond Head.
The Navy contracted with Smit-Tak, a Dutch recovery company, and Crowley Maritime Corp., which has its headquarters in Washington state, to design, engineer and execute the plan to lift the Ehime Maru off the ocean floor, transport it to shallow water for recovery work, and then move it to deep water. Navy divers searched the vessel for remains of nine people who were killed in the accident. Eight bodies were recovered.
At 3:48 p.m. yesterday, the Ehime Maru was released from beneath a Crowley barge. Family members of three of the victims held a short ceremony aboard the JDS Chihaya, and the USS Salvor stood by as a mark of respect.
