HONOLULU -- An environmental assessment conducted by the U.S. Navy says that moving the sunken Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru to shallow water would not cause significant environmental damage.

The assessment clears the way for the vessel to be towed, in order for divers to search for victims of the Feb. 9 collision between the ship and the submarine USS Greeneville.

The Ehime Maru (pictured, right) plunged 2,000 feet into the Pacific Ocean after it was struck by the submarine, which was conducting an emergency surfacing drill about nine miles south of Diamond Head. Nine sailors are presumed to have gone down with the ship.

According to the study, the proposed operation would not adversely affect water quality or marine life in the area.

EHIME MARU Read The Navy's Entire Environmental Assessment

"The greatest potential for impacts will come with the lifting of Ehime Maru from the sea floor and as it is relocated from the current location to the shallow-water recovery site," according to the report. "Any release of this type is expected to rise to the surface, spread out, and rapidly evaporate."

A Dutch recovery company, Smit-Tak, and Washington state-based Crowley Maritime Corp. have been contracted by the U.S. Navy to plan and conduct the operation, which will lift the Ehime Maru off the ocean floor and transport it to shallow water. The companies will also relocate the ship to deep water upon completion of the recovery operation.

Beginning in August, a construction-support ship, the Rockwater 2, will lift the ship from its current location to an area about a mile south of the Honolulu Airport reef runway. The Navy says that in the event that the ship cannot be lifted safely, it will be left in its current location.

If the ship can be lifted, U.S. Navy and Navy-trained Japanese divers will search all safely accessible areas of the vessel to recover the missing crewmembers, personal effects and other items, such as the ship's nameplate and anchors. Japanese government officials have asked for certain pieces of the ship to build a possible memorial.

The Navy will also try to remove diesel fuel, lubricating oil and other materials that could harm the marine environment.

Following the removal operation, a barge will transport the Ehime Maru to its final resting place about 16 miles south of Barbers Point in more than 6,000 feet of water. That operation is expected to take place in October.