Navy hopes fourth The Navy says "metal fatigue" was the reason a 5-foot-wide metal strap broke during the third attempt to lift the Japanese fisheries training vessel Ehime Maru last week during rigging operations nine miles south of Diamond Head.
try will ensnare
Ehime Maru
Other efforts focus on containing
fuel that leaks from the wreckBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comThat mishap forced the multipurpose civilian diving support vessel Rockwater 2 to return to Honolulu Harbor on Saturday to pick up a reinforced strap. The Rockwater 2 was back at the deep-water recovery site by 3:15 a.m. yesterday.
A fourth attempt to lift the 830-ton vessel about 24 feet above the ocean bottom was slated to start late last night, Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Bender, Pacific Fleet spokesman, said.
A commercial helicopter and civilian and Navy vessels equipped with skimmers and boomers, to contain any spilled diesel or lube oil released from the Ehime Maru, also will be deployed during the lifting operation.
The Navy estimates that about 45,000 gallons of diesel fuel and lube oil still may be trapped in the ship's hull. During the last three lifting attempts, small amounts of diesel fuel -- which the Navy says dissipates into the surf -- were released.
Diesel fuel is a light, refined petroleum product that evaporates within hours or days, the Navy says. Because diesel fuel is so light, and because of its low viscosity, the Navy says it spreads quickly to a thin film and will not sink and accumulate on the ocean floor.
The stern of the Ehime Maru has to be lifted to clear a snagged line that will be used later to guide a heavy metal lifting plate under the hull of the ship. Two lines were placed last week. However, the one that was supposed to be placed under the pilot house snagged under the middle of the ship.
The Ehime Maru rests 2,000 feet down on the floor of the Pacific as a result of a collision with the nuclear attack submarine USS Greeneville on Feb. 9. The bodies of nine of the 35 passengers and crewmen of the 190-foot Ehime Maru were never found.
The Navy agreed to this unprecedented $40 million recovery operation under pressure from the Japanese government. Since divers cannot work at 2,000 feet, the Navy's plan calls for the Rockwater 2 to use a special cradle to lift the Ehime Maru and move it closer to shore and shallower waters.
In depths of 115 feet in waters off of Honolulu Airport's reef runway, 60 Japanese civilian and Navy divers will search the interior of the ship. The Navy says there is an 80 percent chance the lifting operation can be completed.
