Body found in Ehime Maru

By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer

Navy divers found the first body today inside the sunken Ehime Maru, the Japanese fisheries training vessel that became a watery grave after a Navy submarine accidentally struck it eight months ago.

Today, the first full day of Navy scuba and salvage diving since the ship was towed to shallower water, brought the biggest breakthrough yet in the Navy’s $60 million recovery operation.

The Navy planned to continue dives until sundown today to begin efforts to retrieve the body. Once the body is out of the water, the Honolulu medical examiner’s office will identify the remains. The medical examiner has the legal responsibility to notify family members, and the Navy as well as the Japanese Consulate will be part of that process.

The Navy is offering victims’ families in Japan airfare, lodging, food and mortuary services in Hawai‘i.

On Sunday, the Ehime Maru was set down in 115 feet of water at a recovery site located about a mile off the Honolulu International Airport’s reef runway. Navy and Japanese divers have been examining the vessel to ensure it is stable and free of hazards.

A Crowley Marine Co. barge is moored above the Ehime Maru recovery site after the ship's move from its original spot off Diamond Head. The barge will serve as a diving support vessel. The sunken Japanese ship now sits about a mile off the airport's reef runway. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

It has been a technically challenging undertaking and a delicate political situation. Giant straps used to move the 830-ton Ehime Maru broke twice, and the unprecedented operation is $20 million over budget.

But the expense also means making good on a Navy promise to Japanese families to try to recover remains of nine people who went down with the ship after the USS Greeneville submarine accidentally gashed its hull Feb. 9 while performing a surfacing drill for civilian guests.

What's expected to be a 33-day diving mission began yesterday afternoon with two Navy scuba divers, who examined the outside of the Ehime Maru to ensure the ship's stability and identify potential hazards. Two other divers set up devices to measure the ship's incline. They also installed ladders for divers and attached marker buoys to identify the position of the ship.

If the weather cooperates and the schedule goes as planned this afternoon, salvage divers, who breathe from the surface and wear boots to climb around, will begin clearing debris from the exterior decks of the ship, Wray said.

Divers will work only during daylight hours in teams of two to four people. They will look for any sign of the four teenage boys and five men last seen before the ship sank. The Navy is going on accounts of 26 survivors to know where to look for the missing. Family members will be notified first if any personal effects are found, Wray said, and no sensitive video or photographs will be released without the permission of the families.

On the water's surface, sea-skimming boats moved along in a V-shaped pattern yesterday to clean up any diesel fuel that has leaked from the ship. Only a small amount has been found, Wray said. A Coast Guard helicopter also has been flying above the area looking for any oil sheen that needs to be skimmed.

Several family members and the Ehime Maru's captain are in Honolulu waiting for word about the recovery.

Two anchors from the ship already have been recovered and will be returned to the Japanese government.

Divers will look for items of interest to the families and the Japanese government, who have asked for things such as the ship's wheel, Wray said. Once the diving mission is finished, the wreckage will be towed back to sea to sink in about 8,000 feet of water.

Reach Tanya Bricking at tbricking@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8026.