Posted on: Thursday, November 14, 2002

Ehime families reach $13 million settlement

Associated Press

TOKYO — The families of 33 people who were aboard a Japanese fisheries training vessel sunk by a U.S. submarine off O'ahu agreed to a reported $13 million compensation package from the Navy yesterday.

Lawyers representing the families and the U.S. government signed the deal at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. Negotiations between the Navy and two other families are continuing separately.

The Navy will make a total payment of $13 million, according to local media reports. Lawyers and a Navy spokesman would not confirm the amount.

Nine men and teenage boys died when the USS Greeneville surfaced beneath the trawler Ehime Maru on Feb. 9, 2001. The vessel was on a training expedition from Uwajima Fisheries High School in Ehime state in southwestern Japan.