U.S.

Probe Of Sunken Vessel Nears End

February 28, 2001 / 7:22 AM EST / AP

The video screen shows a virtually unchanging picture of the greenish, sandy ocean bottom. Every so often, a tiny fish or shrimp flits into view.

Sailors aboard the C-Commando train their eyes on the screen, using a camera-equipped robot to explore the depths where a Japanese fishing vessel sank after a collision with a U.S. submarine.

Their data, collected during a daylong voyage Tuesday and other expeditions, will help U.S. officials decide whether to raise the vessel from 2,000 feet below the surface, nine miles south of Oahu.

"Whatever we find, we'll do what we have to to complete this mission and this job," Navy sonar technician Brent Choate said.

Japanese officials and families of nine people lost at sea are pressing the United States to raise the vessel to recover bodies that may be entombed in the wreckage.

The Scorpio II, launched by the crew of the C-Commando, and another submersible robot, Deep Drone, are being used in the deep sea exploration along with a sonar device that is towed underwater.

The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington will decide in two or three weeks whether to recommend that the Ehime Maru be raised.

"We've been told that decision will be based solely on technical feasibility," said Lt. Cmdr. Flex Plexico, a spokesman for the Pacific Fleet.

The Ehime Maru, a commercial fishing and training boat, sank minutes after it was hit by the USS Greeneville during a rapid-ascent drill Feb. 9. Twenty-six people from the boat were rescued, but there has been no sign of four students, two teachers and three crewmen.

The Navy offered its first up close glimpse of the survey operation Tuesday, allowing a news media pool to observe the launching of the Scorpio from the C-Commando.

The robot was dropped into the water and reached the ocean floor about 500 yards southeast of the wreckage in about an hour.

With the Scorpio moving at 1 to 2 knots, the crew began a survey of three sections of the seven-square-mile search area around the wreckage. Each 285-square-mile section takes about six hours to explore.

From a control room on the C-Commando, Petty Officer 3rd Class Heath Poulter steered the robot using a joystick while Petty Officer 1st Class and co-pilot Charles Holter scanned for sonar contacts.

After its first launch Feb. 16, the Scorpio located the Ehime Maru about 1,000 yards from its last position on the surface. The first video image was a crystal-clear shot of the vessel's stern.

"I don't want to say relieved, but we were proud to find it first," said Chief Petty Officer Mike Subarich, 36, of Chicago. "I know it gave people peace of mind to know where it is."

Since then, the crew has found objects from the ship including boots, gloves, lines and rigging.

Plexico said the seven-mile (11-kilometer) scope of the survey is necessary even if the possibility of finding debris or human remain- which so far have not been seen - is unlikely so far from the wreckage.

"It's important to gather as much information as possible so that we can evaluate the technical feasibility of raising Ehime Maru," he said. "If they find articles from crew members, those need to be returned to the families."