Tragedy at sea: Reservist uses military skills to help heal wound - sinking of Ehime Maru

HONOLULU--When a Japanese fisheries training vessel sank nine miles south of Oahu after being struck by a U.S. submarine, our nation committed to a mammoth $60M recovery operation to retrieve the remains of the nine students, crew members and teachers who were lost.

On February 9, 2001, the Ehime Maru, an 830-ton ship used to train high school students who plan to enter the fishing industry, was struck by the USS Greeneville, a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, as it was conducting a simulated emergency ascent. Although 26 people were rescued, some went down with the ship as it plummeted more than 2000 feet to the ocean floor, a depth far beyond the reach of conventional divers and equipment.

The incident served to heighten tensions between the U.S. and Japan (compounding military issues in Okinawa) and place the Navy on an international stage as it investigated alternative approaches for dealing with the emotionally charged situation.

In order for the recovery effort to proceed, the ship had to be moved from the site of the wreck, which was two-fifths of a mile underwater, to the shallows one mile off the Honolulu International Airport's reef runway, outside of Pearl Harbor. Hauling the broken vessel up from that depth and easing it eight miles closer to shore was a potential environmental nightmare.

Army Reserve engineer, 1st Lieutenant John Moran, with the Facility Engineer Group of the 416th Engineer Command (ENCOM), provided the expertise to help the Navy move the ship to the recovery site without damaging Honolulu's delicate and beautiful coast.

Moran became involved in the recovery effort through his civilian employer, Teledyne Solutions, Inc. in Huntsville, Ala., two months following the incident. But for the actual recovery operation, he donned his Army uniform.

The plan was to raise the nearly 200-foot long vessel that was lying nearly upright on its keel. It would need to be raised just enough to clear the ocean floor in order to tow it underwater for 14.6 nautical miles.

Moran's first job was to ensure that the U.S. could deliver on the Navy's commitments to protect operational safety and the natural environment. After that, his task was to determine the optimal day and time to carry out the operation to minimize the risk of environmental damage from the remaining marine diesel fuel on board the sunken vessel.

When he set to work developing the operation's scaled shelf profile, he discovered that the ocean floor rose more gradually than was originally thought, and by charting the appropriate course, the operation could proceed more efficiently and have the greatest chance of success.

"Keeping all the agencies happy was a huge task in itself," he said.

Over the course of his effort, he coordinated with nine federal agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and with nine State elements that included the Governor's Office and the State health and environmental agencies. His coordination also included the Consulate General of Japan.

After working on the Environmental Assessment (EA) as a DOD contractor, he prepared a list of mitigations, which were essentially methods to prevent or respond to environmental hazards. The Environmental Assessment became the guidebook for the operation.

An environmental assessment of this magnitude and complexity historically has taken 9 months to prepare. In order to meet the project's optimal weather window, the analysis was required to be accomplished in 10 weeks. Any schedule delays in the EA's preparation would have forced the mission into an unacceptable delay of one year. At stake was a commitment made to the Government of Japan by a Vice Admiral of the Navy and the U.S. Ambassador to raise the vessel in a timely manner.

During the relocation operation, the private company responsible for lifting the ship used air hoses on its remotely-controlled deep-sea vehicles to cut channels beneath the Ehime Maru's damaged hull so that steel cables could be fed beneath the keel to help drag two giant straps around the vessel.

"A ship this large has never been recovered at such a depth," said Moran. "This was a precedent-setting operation."

While the remotely-operated vehicles of the Rockwater 2 salvage vessel created the giant cradle, the Army Reserve engineer completed the analysis which would determine when the lift would begin, taking into account the direction of the wind, the ocean current and the time of day. Over the course of the relocation operation, the lieutenant performed some of the mitigations himself and monitored the efforts of other participants. He also provided the Public Affairs Office with detailed graphics and data for their use in informing the media of the recovery progress.

Once secured, the Rockwater2 lifted the Ehime Maru about 10 meters above the ocean floor. The trick was to keep the vessel close to the surface so that if either support strap broke, the falling ship would return to the bottom without risking damage to its towing vessel.

As the Rockwater 2 towed the damaged vessel, minor amounts of diesel were released, but these were identified and contained. Moran's analysis was particularly useful when the Rockwater 2 approached the Shallow-water Recovery Site (SWRS) where the Ehime Maru was to be placed temporarily for recovery operations. The vessels would have arrived late at night, which was not the optimal time and his analysis showed that the optimal time was 16 hours later, in the afternoon.

It turned out that the decision to wait was an important one because overnight the broken vessel released a plume of diesel 2 miles by 3 miles wide.

"The fact that the Ehime Maru was in deeper water and further off shore ensured the sheen did not threatened the shoreline," he reported.

It took more than two months for 66 U.s. and 30 Japanese divers to complete the dangerous and tedious task of recovering remains, which involved removing mud, fishing nets and other objects. Eight of the nine missing were found, as well as 1,500 to 2,000 personal effects and mementos.

"This operation was a state-of-the-art engineering feat that advanced the Navy's understanding and capability for future recovery missions," said Moran as he, along with the Facility Engineer Group finished their task of helping America make good on its promise to bring solace to a bereaved ally and put this sad chapter in Naval annuals behind us.

Note: Following the recovery efforts, the Ehime Maru was towed back out to sea and given a permanent burial.

Master Sgt. Cooper is with the Facility Engineer Group, Darien, Ill.

COPYRIGHT 2002 U.S. Army Reserve
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group