The left helm, the main control position of the vessel, was in control of a crewmember during the entire exercise. The right helm position controls forward movement and turning. The civilian was under surveillance of a trained and experienced crew member the whole time, the official said. After the collision, an area naval base put out a rescue call to the Coast Guard, which responded to the accident. The vessel has sunk.
People are in the water.
The sub ripped open the hull of the 499-ton Ehime Maru as it surged upward during the emergency surfacing maneuver. The USS Greeneville collided with the Japanese trawler Ehime Maru about 9 miles south of Honolulu's Pearl Harbor, officials said. The U.S. military and the National Transportation Safety Board, a civilian agency, say it will take at least a week to determine if all the instruments were working properly at the time of the collision. The boat then dives hundreds of feet below the surface before quickly surfacing at a sharp angle. An NTSB spokesman says the military has told it the submarine followed proper procedures while practicing the maneuver.