Ehime Maru recovery suffers another setback
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
The attempt to lift and move the Ehime Maru suffered another setback last night when a sling being used to lift the sunken vessel snapped.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
It was the third snag since the Navy started the recovery operation last week, and it was unclear how serious this latest development was.
Navy divers practiced yesterday on the platform diving barge that will be used in the shallow-water recovery site of the Ehime Maru once it is moved from deep water. The diver's helmet is equipped with lights and a camera and weighs about 26 pounds. Meanwhile, Navy efforts to raise the stern of the sunken Japanese vessel suffered a setback when a sling being used to lift the ship snapped.
The sling broke when salvage engineers on the Rockwater 2 lifted the stern of the Ehime Maru to reposition rigging cables critical to the Navy's plan to raise it from 2,000 feet of water. The lift began at about 5:30 yesterday afternoon, but the Ehime Maru was set back down because of concerns with the sling's placement under the stern, said Jon Yoshishige, spokesman for U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet.
A second lift attempt was made and the Ehime Maru was raised about 24 feet above the ocean floor. At that point, however, the sling broke and the Ehime Maru sank back to the bottom, Yoshishige said.
He said the ship kicked up a lot of sediment, and salvage experts were unable to use a remotely operated vehicle to see if the Ehime Maru was damaged any further. Once the sediment settles, experts will be able to determine what to do next.
On Wednesday night, the ship was lifted to place two cables, which will be used to pull large metal plates beneath the Ehime Maru. But on Thursday night, the Navy discovered that one of the cables was snagged in the wrong spot. Both cables must be in exact spots for the lift to succeed, the Navy said.
The Navy is trying to recover the bodies of nine men and boys who went down with the Ehime Maru when it was struck by the submarine USS Greeneville on Feb. 9.
