Snag hits salvage HITTING A SNAG, the Navy has been forced to change the way it will rig the Ehime Maru, sitting in 2,000 feet of water off Diamond Head, before trying to move it closer to shore to search for nine missing Japanese men and boys.
of Ehime Maru
Problems with raising the ship
necessitate new lifting methodsBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comThe salvage ship Rockwater 2 returned to port yesterday morning to prepare for a new strategy after attempts to drill under the ship to place lifting plates failed.
Now the Navy plans to lift the stern of the 830-ton Ehime Maru just a few feet to place the rigging necessary to support a specially devised cradle -- a more stressful operation.
The Ehime Maru was struck by the nuclear attack submarine USS Greeneville Feb. 9 as the sub demonstrated a rapid-ascent exercise for 16 civilians. Nine of the 35 people aboard the ship were lost in the collision, including four high school students from Uwajima Fisheries High School in Ehime prefecture in western Japan.
Capt. Bert Marsh, U.S. Navy director of ocean engineering, yesterday declined to characterize the change as a setback, noting that the unprecedented salvage operation is still on schedule to be done by the end of next month.
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Marsh, who has 26 years of salvage experience, said he is still sticking with his 80 percent prediction that the Navy can complete the operation, but acknowledged that "weather is going to be a governing factor."For the past several weeks, the Navy and a civilian-contracted heavy-lift vessel, Rockwater 2, have been trying to dig a passageway so two 66-foot-long metal lifting plates can be placed under the 190-foot Ehime Maru.
The Navy had been trying an innovative approach using pressurized water to push coiled tubing under the hull of the Ehime Maru. The coiled tubing was supposed to drill a 14-inch-wide tunnel under the pilothouse and engine room of the ship. Lines would then be attached to lifting plates, and Rockwater 2 winches would pull the plates through the tunnels under the Ehime Maru.
However, Marsh said although the Navy was able to get 200 feet of the tubing under the ship, it would not come up in the right place on the opposite side. That and other problems with the clay bottom made the Navy decide to alter its operations, Marsh said.
Marsh said the Navy will follow its contingency plan, which involves the Rockwater 2 lifting the stern of the Ehime Maru so the lifting plates can be pulled under the hull.
But in its environmental assessment, the Navy said, "This method could increase the risk of further damaging the hull and subsequently increase the potential for release of diesel fuel and lubricating oil."
The Navy estimates that at least 45,000 of the 60,000 gallons of diesel fuel the Ehime Maru had on board when it left Aloha Tower on Feb. 9 may still be below deck.
Marsh acknowledged yesterday that raising the hull could add stress to it. But he said the lift will be only for a short time, maybe "only hours," and that the hull is "the strongest part of the ship."
The operation is not expected to disturb any remains inside, Marsh said.
The Navy's environmental assessment said the sling would lift the Ehime Maru's stern about four degrees.
The Rockwater 2 returned to Pier 1 yesterday morning to get the equipment for the new procedure and is expected to return to the deep-water site in a few days, Marsh said.
Marsh, who has worked in salvage operations involving the Exxon Valdez tanker oil spill and Egyptian Air and Alaskan Air crashes, said some other problems encountered over the past few weeks by Rockwater 2's crew included difficulty in positioning 25-ton "clumpweights" in strategic places perpendicular to the Ehime Maru. The weights help align various pieces of equipment during the lifting process.
Since divers cannot operate at 2,000 feet, the Navy has had to depend on the use of three deep-diving, remotely controlled drones.
Marsh described the operation as working with two Empire State Buildings stacked atop each other. "Then," he said, "from the top of those two buildings, throw out a fishing line with a fishing lure or weight, and try to cast it out to the sidewalk below, hoping to hit a 6-inch block. That is what they are trying to do. And, by the way, the building keeps moving side to side."
The nuclear attack submarine USS Greeneville, which caused the sinking of the Japanese fishing training vessel Ehime Maru more than six months ago, has left Pearl Harbor on its first major deployment since the collision. Greeneville takes to
sea for first major 6-month
deployment with new captainThe sub's ex-captain, Cmdr. Scott Waddle,
is currently awaiting retirement ordersBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comThe Greeneville -- with almost its entire crew intact except for its captain, Cmdr. Scott Waddle -- began its six-month Western Pacific deployment Aug. 15 about three months behind schedule.
The submarine is now commanded by Cmdr. David S. Bogdan, a 1983 Naval Academy graduate. Bogdan has been the executive officer of the USS Topeka and served at Pearl Harbor on the Pacific Submarine Force staff in 1994.
The Greeneville had to be dry-docked and underwent $2 million in repairs to its exterior.
At an April 23 admiral's mast -- an administrative hearing -- Waddle, who was at the helm of the Greeneville at the time of the collision, was stripped of his command and given a reprimand.
Waddle is now on the Pacific Submarine Force staff awaiting his retirement orders, expected to take effect in October. It will be up to Navy Secretary Gordon England to determine if Waddle will be allowed to retire as a commander at an annual pension of about $34,740 a year.
Other reprimanded Greeneville crew members were Lt. j.g. Michael Coen, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer, Master Chief Douglas Coffman, Petty Officer Edward McGibboney and Petty Officer Patrick Seacrest.
All remain part of the Greeneville crew; however, Coen is ashore training for his engineer's license and will rejoin the submarine once that assignment has been completed.