Ehime Maru The Navy's unprecedented $40 million attempt to raise the 830-ton Ehime Maru from the floor of the Pacific Ocean is in jeopardy after a major setback yesterday.
salvage effort hits
major snag
A support strap breaks
during an attempt to maneuver
the sunken vesselBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comJust before dusk yesterday, the Rockwater 2 used its main linear winches to try for the third time to lift the Ehime Maru to correct a problem with a rigging line under the ship. But after more than an hour into the lifting operation nine miles off Waikiki, the Navy abruptly halted the mission because the sling carrying Ehime Maru broke and the vessel fell 24 feet.
Pacific Fleet spokesman Jon Yoshishige said the Rockwater 2 lifted the Ehime Maru, which is 2,000 feet deep on the ocean floor, at 5:30 p.m., but salvage workers noticed that the strap was placed improperly and lowered the vessel. When the Ehime was raised for a third time, the strap broke.
An assessment will be made today after sediment on the ocean floor has settled to determine what will be done next. To straighten the snagged line, the Navy still must lift the Ehime Maru for the fourth time, and it may be forced to use the spare riggings that are intended for use as backup for the final operation.
Navy and civilian salvage operators were trying to straighten a snag that had occurred in one of two 36 mm wires strung under the Ehime Maru when the sling used to lift the ship's hull broke.The two wires are supposed to pull two large metal plates under the pilot house and engine room of the ship. On Thursday, following a 71/2-hour rigging operation, the Navy believed both wires were properly placed.
But after the sediment settled, a remotely controlled vehicle discovered the forward wire was snagged around the middle of the Ehime Maru and not under the pilot house. The second wire, however, seemed to be positioned where it was supposed to be, under the engine room.
The Navy had hoped to raise the Ehime Maru yesterday, but high winds and rough seas postponed the action. A Navy spokesman said seas were running from 8 to 10 feet at the recovery site nine miles south of Diamond Head. Ideally, Navy officials want seas to be no higher than 8 feet.
The Rockwater 2, a civilian-contracted vessel, has been working off Diamond Head since Aug. 10, sometimes around the clock, preparing the Ehime Maru for the salvage operation.
Since Feb. 9, when the nuclear attack submarine USS Greeneville slammed into the Ehime Maru while surfacing, the Navy has been under pressure by the Japanese government to raise the sunken vessel and search for the people lost in the collision. Nine of the 35 people aboard the ship, including four students from Uwajima Fisheries High School in Ehime prefecture in western Japan, were lost in the accident. However, the Navy now believes that only five to seven of the missing remain entombed inside the ship.
The Navy plans to move the Ehime Maru 12.5 miles to a spot one mile south of Honolulu Airport's reef runway. There, at a depth of 115 feet, 60 Japanese civilian and Navy divers will search the vessel for the missing and recover the ship's bell, anchor and personal items.
