Submarine Commander Refusing to Talk to NTSB

The commander of the U.S. submarine that sank a Japanese fishing vessel has refused to discuss the accident with investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board until the Navy completes its investigation, officials said Monday.

NTSB investigators met with Cmdr. Scott Waddle over the weekend when he told them his lawyer recommended he respond only to written questions from the NTSB for the time being and only about search and rescue efforts, NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewiscz said.

Waddle’s information could be crucial to the NTSB effort to determine how the Greeneville failed to detect the 190-foot Ehime Maru before it conducted an emergency rapid-ascent drill nine miles south of Diamond Head on Feb. 9.

The Ehime Maru, a commercial training vessel, was headed toward fishing grounds 300 miles southeast of Oahu when the Greeneville collided with it. The submarine tore through the hull of the ship, sinking it within minutes. The wreckage was found by underwater probes Friday night in 2,000 feet of water.

The boat was on a two-month training trip with students from a Japanese high school. Twenty-six people were rescued, but nine have not been found--three crewmen, two teachers and four students.

The Navy announced Saturday it would conduct a court of inquiry--its highest-level administrative investigation--focusing on the actions of the Greeneville’s three top officers: Waddle; its executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald K. Pfeifer, and the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Michael J. Coen.

Three admirals will oversee the hearing, which could lead to courts-martial, said Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet.

The hearing, scheduled to convene Thursday, is expected to examine the presence of 16 civilian guests on the submarine, two of whom, supervised by crew members, were at key controls when the Greeneville made its rapid ascent. One pulled the levers that initiated the drill.

On Monday, the Navy and Coast Guard continued the search for the nine missing.

“At this point, it’s going to go on indefinitely,” said Coast Guard spokesman Eric Hedaa. “We have no plans to discontinue the search.”

A deep-sea robot was combing the ocean floor to evaluate the feasibility of raising the 500-ton Ehime Maru. Japanese officials and families of the missing are pressing the United States to salvage the boat if that is the only way to recover bodies that may be entombed.