Navy to begin moving Ehime Maru

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Navy expected to begin moving the sunken Japanese vessel Ehime Maru early this morning after successfully connecting two lifting frames last night.

Salvage experts on the Rockwater 2 recovery ship struggled throughout the day to couple four heavy cables and a top lifting frame to a lower lifting assembly suspended over the 830-ton Japanese fisheries training vessel. The work was hampered by rough seas and by technical problems with a tool used by a remotely operated vehicle.

But shortly before 9 last night the connection was made and the Rockwater crew began preparations to lift the Ehime Maru. The ship remains upright in 2,000 feet of water nine miles south of Diamond Head.

Cmdr. David Wray, Pacific Fleet spokesman, said the Ehime Maru would be lifted about 90 feet off the ocean floor late last night. Plans called for three remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, to be placed in the ocean to ensure that the ship was stabilized after the lift was completed, he said.

The ROVs also will provide the first look at damage to the bottom of the sunken vessel, he said.

Wray said the inspection is expected to take about two hours. Once that is completed, the Rockwater will begin the painstakingly slow process of moving the Ehime Maru to shallower water.

The Ehime Maru sank Feb. 9 when the USS Greeneville, a fast-attack Navy submarine, rammed it during a surfacing drill. Five crew members of the Ehime Maru and four high school students aboard were killed in the accident.

Rear Adm. William Klemm, head of the salvage and recovery mission, said the 14.5-mile haul to the shallow-water site off Honolulu International Airport's reef runway will be slow because of the necessity of keeping the Ehime Maru directly beneath the Rockwater 2 and 90 feet above the ocean floor while it is being towed. Moving the vessel to shallow water is expected to take three to four days.

Wray said the Ehime Maru will be monitored from several angles throughout the move. One ROV will precede the vessel so it doesn't bump into anything; a second will observe the lifting frames to ensure they are holding the ship in place; and a third ROV will be behind the Ehime Maru in case anything breaks or falls off.

When the transit is completed, the ship will be left to settle for two to three days at 115 feet before divers attempt to recover the remains. The dive operation is expected to continue for 33 days.

Rigging the ship was critical to the success of the mission, which has now cost more than $60 million. The Navy has promised the families of nine victims that it would attempt to recover their remains.

Staff writers William Cole and Dan Nakaso contributed to this report.