The U.S. Navy said Sunday that it has sent the sunken Japanese fisheries training ship Ehime Maru to its final resting place in deep waters, following the retrieval of the remains of eight of the nine people killed when the vessel was rammed and sunk by a U.S. submarine in February.
High waves off Honolulu since Saturday night delayed the work to take the submerged Ehime Maru to its final destination. The 499-ton ship was hit by the USS Greeneville on Feb. 9 off Hawaii as the sub performed a rapid-surfacing drill for the benefit of civilian guests.
Nine of the 35 Japanese aboard the Ehime Maru, including four 17-year-old boys, died in the accident.
The U.S. Navy spent about $60 million to move the Ehime Maru to shallow waters off Honolulu International Airport so divers could search for the bodies.
The search began in October and eight corpses were recovered. The body of Takeshi Mizuguchi, a 17-year-old student at the Uwajima Fisheries High School, was not found and the search ended Nov. 15.
The Ehime Maru was sent to the bottom Sunday about 30 km from the place where the search was carried out, in waters about 1.8 km deep.
The navy said it removed diesel fuel from the ship to protect the environment and sealed the vessel to keep remaining material from spilling out.
Ehime Maru skipper Hisao Onishi, 59, who survived the accident and watched the search operation by the U.S. Navy, said, "I want the crew of the Greeneville to watch (the sinking operation) and look back again on what they have done."