First Body Recovered From Ship

After eight months of painstaking effort that cost upward of $60 million, the U.S. Navy has recovered the first body from the sunken Ehime Maru, the Japanese fishery training vessel that was rammed by a U.S. submarine, killing four teenage boys and five men.

Navy divers expect to recover five to seven bodies, based on descriptions of where the victims were last seen aboard the ship. The remains recovered were taken late Tuesday to the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s office. Using dental records, the medical examiner said the remains were those of Hirotaka Segawa, 60, the chief radio operator.

In the anguish that followed the Feb. 9 accident, the families of the victims had one plea: Recover the remains of our loved ones. At the time, no one knew whether it would be possible, but the Navy promised to do its best.

“The U.S. Navy is committed to treating the families respectfully and honorably,” Lt. Cmdr. Neil Sheehan, liaison officer for the relatives, said late Tuesday. “We hope we will recover bodies in a quick fashion and turn them over to their loved ones.”

Family members of two of the victims are in Honolulu, along with the ship’s captain, and others are expected to arrive soon. The Navy, which takes full responsibility for the accident, is covering their travel, lodging and mortuary costs.

“When I heard that one body was found in the Ehime Maru, I lost all my strength,” said Masumi Terata, whose 17-year-old son was last seen on the bridge of the ship. “We appreciate that the Navy is working very hard to carry out the salvage,” he told the Honolulu Advertiser.

Ship Moved in Sling to Shallower Waters

The recovery effort relied on remotely operated vehicles to gently lift the 830-ton vessel from its 2,000-foot-deep watery grave, because humans cannot function at such depths. The Ehime Maru was then slowly moved, suspended underwater in a sling, to a shallower site, where divers first entered it late Tuesday.

“We’ve recovered much larger ships from much shallower depths,” said Rear Adm. William Klemm. “I don’t think we have any precedent for movement of a vessel of this size from that depth.”

The 190-foot ship suffered a huge gash when the U.S. submarine Greeneville suddenly surfaced underneath it on Feb. 9, nine miles south of Diamond Head. The Ehime Maru sank within minutes, jarring U.S.-Japan relations.

Four students from Uwajima Fisheries High School in Japan’s Ehime prefecture, two of their teachers and three crew members were lost when the ship went down. Twenty-six people were rescued and no bodies were recovered at that point.

Horror soon gave way to outrage when it was disclosed that the submarine had been performing an emergency surfacing drill for the benefit of civilian guests and that civilians had been allowed to sit at the controls while it rocketed to the surface.

Engineers Feared Ship Would Break

The captain, Cmdr. Scott Waddle, was blamed for rushing the surfacing maneuver and failing to conduct an adequate periscope search. He was stripped of his command but allowed to retire with full benefits.

After extensive planning and environmental studies, the Navy and its salvage contractor, Smit Tak Internationale of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, began the operation to lift the Ehime Maru in August. Engineers feared the vessel might break apart when stressed and release some of the 50,000 gallons of diesel fuel aboard when it sank.

They tried three methods before finally succeeding Friday in raising the Ehime Maru off the ocean floor. The oil rigger, Rockwater 2, then carefully pulled it to shallower water, keeping the damaged vessel close to the ocean bottom to minimize risk to people topside in case a cable broke or a winch failed.

More than 60 divers, including some from Japan, are participating in the recovery effort, working from a dive barge above the Ehime Maru, which was set down at a depth of 115 feet on the ocean floor, a mile offshore from Honolulu International Airport. Along with searching for the remains of the missing, the Navy plans to recover personal effects, as requested by the families.

Divers also are clearing fishing line and debris that is strewn about the ship, including a refrigerator, which could pose hazards or block access. The Navy expects the divers to finish the recovery job within a month. Once it is complete, the Ehime Maru will be laid to rest at a deep-water site, 12 miles out to sea. The Navy is investigating reports that a dozen seabirds may have been contaminated by diesel fuel or oil that leaked from the Ehime Maru during the operation.