Navy targeting early October for Ehime Maru move

	Navy video of Ehime Maru recovery operation in QuickTime and RealVideo formats. (QuickTime or Real plug-ins required.)
•	Special: Collision at Sea

Advertiser Staff

The Navy is now aiming for early October to move the Japanese training vessel Ehime Maru to shallow waters, a spokesman said yesterday.

The task to move the ship from its location 2,000 feet underwater south of Diamond Head has taken longer than expected because of snags in the recovery operation.

Navy officials are attempting to relocate the ship to a shallower depth to allow recovery of the remains of the men and boys lost in the Feb. 9 collision of their ship with the USS Greeneville submarine.

Navy spokesman Jon Yoshishige said in recent days the private contractor hired for the salvage work has been dredging around the vessel to lift its bow out of the surrounding silt.

The bow was driven into the soft ocean floor two weeks ago when workers lifted the stern to make room for rigging cables.

Navy officials yesterday also released new video of the salvage work on the Ehime Maru. The video includes shots taken by a robot-operated camera through a bridge window of the starboard side and of the bow buried in silt.

Video updates of the salvage operation have been sent to families of the Ehime Maru victims through Navy liaisons in Japan.

Last week, Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka met with Navy officials in Hawai'i and noted that the operation was taking longer than expected.

Saying the victims' families are very concerned, she thanked those working on the recovery, but said Japan officials hope the recovery happens as soon as possible.