The sunken fisheries training ship Ehime Maru was towed by a salvage ship to a shallow-water site Sunday, finally setting the stage for divers to begin searching the wreck for victims.
The Rockwater 2, a civilian salvage vessel, and the Ehime Maru reached the shallow-water site 1.6 km off Honolulu International Airport on Sunday afternoon.
The navy is expected to moor a large vessel alongside the Ehime Maru to use as a platform for conducting the search inside the ship for the remains of the nine Japanese killed in the accident and for the personal effects of the victims, navy officials said earlier.
The search, involving 66 U.S. and 30 Japanese divers, will begin Thursday at the earliest, the officials said.