While it was exciting for the Nawiliwili-based Coast Guard cutter Kittiwake crew to get close glimpses of a search and salvage submarine and surface vessel at work, it was way more frustrating for them to come up empty in the
While it was exciting for the Nawiliwili-based Coast Guard cutter Kittiwake crew to get close glimpses of a search and salvage submarine and surface vessel at work, it was way more frustrating for them to come up empty in the search for survivors of the Japanese fishery training boat Ehime Maru.
The vessel sank in 2,000 feet of water about 10 miles south of O’ahu after it was hit Feb. 9 by the surfacing USS Greeneville, a Pearl Harbor-based Navy nuclear-powered submarine. Nine of the Japanese crew members are still missing. All are feared dead.
Beginning the day of the accident, the Kittiwake spent 10 days on the scene searching. The cutter and its crew are home for rest before rejoining the search next week.
“It’s frustrating. You’re out there searching for people, and there was really nothing out there after a day or two,” said Lt. j.g. Jennifer Cook, commander of the Kittiwake and the Coast Guard’s Nawiliwili station.
“Obviously, you kept hoping, but as time went on your spirits diminished about it,” said Cook.
During part of the search, rough seas up to 16 feet combined with 50-knot winds (around 57 miles per hour) to place some of the Kittiwake’s 10-member crew in the middle of the worst search conditions they had ever encountered, Cook said.
Those conditions contributed to fatigue. That and the frustration of fruitless searching made the mission even more difficult, as morale sagged, she continued.
“It’s really fatiguing. You’re more concerned about holding on than trying to look out on the horizon for things,” Cook said. “This is definitely one of the bigger cases that we’ve had, and probably the biggest case we’ve had in any kind of recent history.”
The Kittiwake went into Honolulu Harbor only a couple times for rest, food and fuel. The remaining Coast Guard members stationed at Nawiliwili – seven men – stayed behind, at the ready with a 24-foot inflatable rescue craft should any boats or ships get into trouble in waters closer to Kaua’i.
Due to the international incident the collision has become, the search continues. Meanwhile, in Japan, the government and families of the nine missing crew members, including four high school students, want the vessel raised.
The U.S. Navy, within the next two weeks, is expected to announce whether it or other entities have the capability of raising the 500-ton ship.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
