The U.S. Navy has altered its plans to raise the Ehime Maru but remains optimistic it can complete the operation by mid-September, the Navy's salvage supervisor announced Wednesday.
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| A U.S. Navy Web graphic shows the new plan for raising the Ehime Maru. |
The 499-ton Japanese high school fisheries training vessel was accidentally sunk by a surfacing U.S. submarine off Honolulu in February and lies about 600 meters below the surface about 14 km off Oahu Island.
Capt. Bert Marsh said efforts to tunnel underneath the sunken ship have proved unsuccessful and the new plan will require lifting the ship from its stern so that two steel plates can be placed under the hull.
The Navy will then rig and transport the ship to shallow waters off Honolulu International Airport, where divers will attempt to retrieve the remains and personal effects of the nine missing crew members.