Lawsuit over MATSUYAMA, Japan >> Lawyers in charge of negotiating compensation for two victims of the Feb. 9 collision between a U.S. submarine and the Japanese fisheries training ship Ehime Maru plan to file a damages suit over the fatal accident, sources close to the case said.
Ehime crash planned
Lawyers representing 2 victims'
families are expected to finalize
their decision MondayKyodo News Service
The group of lawyers will finalize their decision Monday at a meeting in Tokyo, the sources said.
Ryosuke Terata, father of 17-year-old Yusuke, one of the nine who died, and Otoyoshi Furuya, the younger brother of engineer Toshimichi Furuya, 47, who was also killed, are scheduled to attend the meeting to convey their final decisions, according to the sources.
The lawyers will further discuss details such as when to file the suit, the amount of compensation to seek and laws to support the suit, they said.
Cmdr. Scott Waddle, former captain of the USS Greeneville, received an administrative punishment over the collision. The punishment was based on a recommendation by three admirals who sat on the bench of the Navy Court of Inquiry, concluded in April.
Waddle was relieved of command of the submarine following its collision with the Ehime Maru.
During four previous meetings with the Navy, the group of lawyers had maintained that the Navy had displayed "gross negligence that was close to being intentional."
The Navy denied "gross negligence," although admitting the fault was entirely on the side of the U.S. Navy.
The 499-ton Ehime Maru was struck by the 6,080-ton Greeneville while the sub was conducting an emergency surfacing maneuver for civilian visitors. Nine of the 35 people aboard the Ehime Maru were lost at sea in the collision.
Through the meetings with the Navy, the lawyers judged it would be impossible to learn the truth behind the collision through talks, according to the sources.
Through the suit, the lawyers are hoping to have Waddle, crew members and visitors aboard the Greeneville appear in court as witnesses and also seek information the Navy has not released so far, according to the sources.
Families of the 33 other victims are being represented by lawyers appointed by the Ehime prefectural government and are seeking an out-of-court settlement.
The lawyers appointed by the prefectural government have said, however, that if they cannot reach an agreement on the amount of compensation in an out-of-court settlement, there is a possibility they will file a suit.
Terata is among the family members of four victims who were expected to be in Hawaii by Sunday, when the Navy is scheduled to move the Ehime Maru to its final resting place in 8,000 feet of water 12.5 miles off Kalaeloa.
Media reports say that those planning to make the final trip are relatives of the two Uwajima Fisheries High School teachers killed in the collision, Jun Nakata, 33, and Hiroshi Makizawa, 37, and the parents of students Yusuke Terata and Takeshi Mizuguchi, both 17.
Only the body of Mizuguchi was never recovered. The $60 million search for bodies was called off Nov. 6 after the Navy divers spent 333 hours over 20 days scouring the three levels of the ship.