Sixth Ehime
body recovered

The Navy says dental records
will not be enough to identify
the latest body found

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com

Since Monday the Navy has searched 15 percent of the Japanese vessel sunk by a nuclear submarine more than eight months ago and recovered six of the nine missing crewmen.

However, Lt. Cmdr. Gregg Baumann, Naval Sea Systems projection relocation manager, would not discuss yesterday whether the six recovered remains were part of the Navy's original estimate that five to seven bodies would be recovered.

That estimate was made by Rear Adm. William Klemm, who heads the unprecedented $60 million recovery operation, earlier this summer before any dives were made. Klemm's estimate was based on eyewitness accounts of where the nine students, teachers and crewmen were last seen.

But the fact that Navy and Japanese divers have searched only 15 percent of the 190-foot Ehime Maru's compartments and found six bodies indicates that much of the information the Navy had of the placement of the crew minutes after the collision from the 26 survivors apparently has been extremely accurate.

The Navy last night said, however, that dental records -- which have been used to identify the first four bodies -- will not be enough for the sixth body, found late yesterday afternoon. The military must now turn to DNA testing, which could take at least a month before the final results are in.

Yesterday, the medical examiner's officer identified two more bodies using dental records.

They were Toshimichi Furuya, 47, the Ehime Maru's chief engineer; and Toshiya Sakashima, 17, a student from Uwajima Fisheries High School in Ehime prefecture in western Japan. The medical examiner said the identification of Sakashima was done with the help of personal items.

In Japan, Shizuko Kimura, Furuya's sister, tearfully told Kyodo News Agency, "I wouldn't ask to bring him back alive, but we want his body back at least."

The bodies of another 17-year-old student, Katsuya Nomoto, and Hirotaka Segawa, 60, the ship's chief radio operator, were identified earlier this week. All of the four drowned, the medical examiner reported.

Identification of the fifth body is still pending.

Lt. Cmdr. Neil Sheehan, the Pacific Fleet's liaison with the Japanese government, said representatives and family members of the nine missing people will be in the islands by early next week.

The Navy will cover their plane fare, lodging and food for eight days. It also will pay for mortuary expenses.

Sheehan said Klemm will meet sometime this weekend with at least eight of the family members who already are here, to brief them on the underwater recovery operations now being conducted one mile south of Honolulu Airport's reef runway.

Sheehan said some families have requested personal items -- a request the Navy will try to fulfill. However, the Navy has repeatedly declined to answer any questions concerning the type of personal items which have been found during the search of the Ehime Maru.

Japanese officials have said that the wedding ring belonging to Hiroshi Makisawa, a teacher who was lost, was recovered this week. He is still listed as missing.

Sheehan said all identifiable personal items will be returned once the operation is over. Retrieval of these personal items will not occur until after the Navy completes the search for the missing.

Sheehan also said the Navy plans to take family members to the recovery site, but they will not be allowed on the diving barge.

Baumann said the Navy is "very satisfied" with its progress and thought it would be harder to access the ship's compartments.

The only problem has been sediment in the ship stirred up by the divers, which obscures the visibility to the point that at times "it is down to less than a foot or zero."

"They then have to rely on feelings of their hands," Baumann said.

During the first four days of the operation, 67 dives were completed, with divers spending a total of 33 hours in the water, a Navy official said.

The Ehime Maru sank Feb. 9 after it was rammed by the USS Greeneville. The Navy raised it from 2,000 feet of water and moved it 16 miles. Nine Japanese, including four students from the high school, are missing; 26 other students and crew members were rescued.