While he said last week that it's technically possible to raise the ship, Sato today said he must talk to Japanese officials before they determine how they might attempt to salvage it. The Navy took Sato and his research team to the crash site today aboard the USS Salvor, a Pearl Harbor-based ship that controls the Deep Drone, which is recording video images of the exterior of the Ehime Maru. The Navy is continuing its search mission at the request of the Japanese, and the Coast Guard is aiding with its 41-foot rescue boat and a rescue helicopter. No bodies have been found. The Navy continues to use another deep-sea submersible, the Super Scorpio II, which was the first to record images of the sunken ship.
Aircraft also are on hand to continue searching.
Interpreter Toshi Erikson contributed to this report. The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co .