HONOLULU -- The top official overseeing efforts to recover a sunken Japanese fishing vessel said Tuesday that he's 90 percent sure that the operation will succeed.

Adm. William Klemm said that the Navy will attempt to move the Ehime Maru from its current resting place 2,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean to shallower waters starting late Wednesday.

The Ehime Maru will be towed underwater so slowly that it may appear to be standing still during its 14.5 mile journey to a shallow water area near the Honolulu International Airport (see below). That's where Navy divers will attempt to recover the bodies of nine men and teenage boys who were killed when the Ehime Maru was rammed by the submarine USS Greeneville Feb. 9.

Klemm said that moving the vessel will take three to four days. He also said that the operation should not be affected by the bombing campaign in Afghanistan.

"The Navy personnel involved in this right now are Navy divers who have not been tasked for other missions, and so we do not expect to stop this mission at this point in time," Klemm said.