A salvage effort for the sunken Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru could cost up to $20 million, Pentagon sources have told
ABCNEWS.
Sources said that surveying the area around the ship, which is sitting in 2,000 feet of water, could take months to complete and that raising the vessel could take several months more.
Despite the potential difficulties, sources said that the
U.S. Navy, which is under immense political pressure from the Japanese government, will likely try to raise the ship.
Meanwhile, the commander of the submarine that sank the Ehime Maru refused to talk to federal investigators about the accident this past weekend.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board met with USS Greeneville skipper Cmdr. Scott Waddle (pictured, right) over the weekend. But on the advice of his lawyer, he wouldn't comment, pending the Navy's investigation.
An NTSB spokesman said that Waddle told them that he would answer questions submitted to him in writing, but only about the search-and-rescue aspects following the accident.
The NTSB is trying to determine why the Greeneville didn't detect the 190-foot fishing vessel overhead before it conducted an emergency rapid-ascent drill near Pearl Harbor.
Teams rescued 26 people from the fishing vessel, but nine people are missing and presumed dead.
The Navy resumed inspection Monday of the Ehime Maru after sidestepping earlier technical problems with a deep-sea robot.
Commissioned: Feb. 16, 1996
Los Angeles-class attack nuclear submarine
Homeported in Pearl Harbor in March 1997
Max crew: 130
Specs:
499 tons
190.8 feet long
30.5 feet wide
Max crew: 76
Crew members aboard the USS Salvor lowered a second robot into the ocean nine miles south of Diamond Head Sunday night, after the first robot was removed for repairs.
The Navy is using the unmanned submersibles to evaluate the feasibility of raising the vessel, which sank minutes after the Greeneville surfaced underneath it Feb. 9.
Families of the nine men and teenagers missing since the
collision are pressing the United States to salvage the ship if
that is the only way to recover bodies that may be entombed in its
hull.
"The U.S. Navy has never raised a vessel of this size from this
depth, so it is an immense task if that were to be the directive,"
Lt. Cmdr. Jane Campbell said.
The victims' families want the boat raised, but at least one salvage operator said that bringing the boat to the surface could be extremely difficult.
"A salvage operation of this difficulty, the chances of success are even questionable," salvage operator Rusty Nall said.
Rusty Nall of American Marine Services has been in the marine salvage business for 30 years. He said that in comparison to other sunken vessels, the depth at which the Ehime Maru sits is staggering. Nall said that it's too deep for divers. He said that a robot would have to attach cables to the ship, and that in itself would be extremely difficult.
"Even if you got the cables underneath the vessel you wouldn't necessarily have a successful operation," Nall said. "In the process of raising it to the surface, just a multitude of things could happen, the cables could shift, the vessel could sustain further damage. It can collapse, it could fold, it could bend. The cables could slip out. It's a very difficult operation."
And Nall said that the equipment that would be necessary for such a salvage operation doesn't exist. He said that special equipment would have to be manufactured.
He said that if the Navy does attempt to raise the Ehime Maru, the effort would take months.
Videotape taken by the first robot showed the ship in good
condition, sitting upright on the ocean floor, but the Coast Guard
said that the full extent of damage had not been determined.
The Navy said the deep-sea robots may be too big to enter the
wreckage to retrieve any bodies that may be inside, especially if
the vessel has not broken apart.
The Ehime Maru, a commercial fishing training vessel, was headed
toward fishing grounds 300 miles southeast of Oahu when the
Greeneville collided with it during an emergency rapid-ascent
drill. Twenty-six people were rescued, but there have been no signs
of the nine missing.
The Navy announced Saturday it would conduct a court of inquiry -- its highest-level administrative investigation -- to focus on the actions of the Greeneville's three top officers: the submarine's captain, Cmdr. Scott 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 board is scheduled to convene Thursday.
The hearing is expected to touch on the presence of 16 civilian
guests on board. Two civilians, supervised by crew members, were at
key controls when the Greeneville made its rapid ascent. One pulled
the levers that initiated the drill.
Jack Clary, 68, a free-lance sports writer from Stow, Mass., was
at the helm of the submarine during the rapid ascent but said he
was not controlling the equipment. Clary said the civilians were
all supervised by crew members, and that their hands were
intertwined as they touched the controls. (Click
here to watch Clary's interview with Diane Sawyer.)
The inquiry is also expected to address why periscope and sonar
sweeps failed to detect the fishing vessel. The National
Transportation Safety Board reported the Greeneville crew had
tracked several ships in the area, but investigators have not said
when the ships were tracked and where they were located.
Previous Stories:
- February 18, 2001: Sucess Of Raising Ehime Maru 'Questionable'
- February 17, 2001: Navy To Convene Court Of Inquiry
- February 16, 2001: Sources: Maneuver Partly Result Of Civilians
- February 15, 2001: Search Continues While NTSB Interviews Sub Crew
- February 14, 2001: Two Island Residents On Greeneville
- February 14, 2001: U.S.-Japan Relations Turning Tense
- February 13, 2001: Sub Captain Could Face Criminal Inquiry
- February 12, 2001: Robot To Search For Sunken Ship
- February 12, 2001: Japanese Minister Meets With U.S. Admiral
- February 11, 2001: Search For Ehime Maru Victims To Continue
- February 11, 2001: Captain Of Ehime Maru Speaks
- February 11, 2001: Government Calls Submarine Collision 'Tragedy'
- February 10, 2001: Sub Commander Reassigned As Search Continues
- February 10, 2001: U.S. Offers Another Apology To Japan
- February 10, 2001: Anxiety Turns To Anger In Japanese Town
- February 10, 2001: Sub Collided During Emergency Maneuver
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