63 divers More than 60 divers will take part in operations to recover the bodies of crew members of the Japanese fisheries training ship Ehime Maru, which sank after it was hit by a U.S. submarine in February, a U.S. Navy official said.
to help salvage
Ehime Maru
The Navy is preparing to
move the ship into
shallower waterKyodo News Service
Some 45 U.S. Navy divers, as well as six divers from the Navy Ship Repair Facility in Yokosuka, southwest of Tokyo, and 12 divers from the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, will participate in the operation after the Ehime Maru is moved from its present location about 2,000 feet below the surface.
Nine of the 35 people aboard the 499-ton Ehime Maru were lost in the collision, including four students from Uwajima Fisheries High School in Ehime prefecture. However, Navy officials now believe only five to seven of the crew members are entombed in the vessel, and that the others were lost at sea.
The Navy is preparing to move the vessel to a shallow shoal off Honolulu International Airport, where divers can safely enter its decks. Officials anticipate sending the divers into the Ehime Maru after it has been transported to shallower waters and allowed to settle for 48 hours.
According to the Navy official, a rotating pool of divers will be organized into teams of three to six, who will go to a maximum depth of 115 feet to recover remains or artifacts from the ship.
Despite wearing special wet suits to protect them from the cold water and possible contact with hazardous materials, the divers are able to spend only 60 to 80 minutes in the water.
They will work in five or six shifts during daylight hours only.
The divers will likely start their search in the ship's third deck, where most of the missing crew members were last seen and are believed to have been trapped. Those last spotted on the upper decks are likely to have been swept away when the ship rapidly sank.
After the divers have completed their work, the ship will be moved to another location where it will be permanently sunk in international waters.
The Ehime Maru was struck and sunk Feb. 9 by the nuclear-powered submarine USS Greeneville, which was conducting an emergency surfacing maneuver for civilian visitors.
