Saying goodbye again For nearly an hour yesterday, 36 friends and relatives of the nine people who died when the Japanese vessel Ehime Maru sank off Diamond Head more than eight months ago watched as divers continued to search for their loved ones in waters off Honolulu Airport.
Family members observe
divers' efforts to recover
Ehime Maru victimsBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comThe Japanese Consulate took the families and friends, along with several Navy officers, on the catamaran Hilton Rainbow I to the site where the Ehime Maru was relocated more than a week ago. Accompanying them were Consul General Ikuhiko Ono and Toshio Kojima, Japan's parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs,
On calm seas, the families and friends observed Navy and Japanese civilian divers continue the search, which began Oct. 15, for the last three missing crewmen. They observed divers, some working from small rubber boats, enter the water.
The Ehime Maru, with its bow pointing Ewa, lies parallel to the runway and sits in 115 feet of water. About 50 percent of the ship's three decks have been searched. Nearly 60 pieces of personal effects have been recovered.
Through an interpreter, Kunimori Matsuda, overseas public relations director for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said personal effects were shown to family members yesterday. Matsuda did not specify what items were shown.
Divers ended their recovery operations early because of windy conditions that caused the oil boom surrounding the site to become unstable, Matsuda said.
At times the catamaran maneuvered within 10 feet of the 400-foot Crowley 450-10 barge, which is serving as the dive platform. The family members could see the yellow spreader assembly and lifting frame, used to raise the Ehime Maru nearly 1,800 feet, in the waters below them.
After nearly an hour at the dive site, the Rainbow I eased its way back to Kewalo Basin.
As the catamaran left the site, family members tossed white and yellow daisies into the dark cobalt blue seas; some waved to the divers and the divers waved back.
So far, the bodies of five of the missing have been found and identified. A sixth is waiting the results of DNA testing.
Among the four missing are: Uwajima Fisheries High School students Takeshi Mizuguchi and Yusuke Terata, both 17; and their teachers Hiroshi Makizawa and Jun Nakata.
Five of the six recovered victims have been identified. They are crew members Hiroshi Nishida, 49, the ship's first engineer; Toshimichi Furuya, 47, the chief engineer; Hirotaka Segawa, 60, the ship's chief radio operator; and students Toshiya Sakashima and Katsuya Nomoto, both 17.
The 830-ton Ehime Maru, owned by the Uwajima school, was struck and sunk by the 6,080-ton Greeneville as the U.S. nuclear submarine was performing an emergency surfacing maneuver.
The ship was raised from where it sank Feb. 9, nine miles south of Diamond Head, and moved to shallow waters off Honolulu Airport during a two-month operation conducted by the Navy.
Star-Bulletin reporter Rosemarie Bernardo
contributed to this report.