Sub commander apologises

2001-03-01 14:13

Tokyo - The commander of the US submarine that sank a Japanese fishing vessel off Hawaii has written letters of apology to the bereaved families of the nine people still missing from the accident, an official said on Thursday.

Commander Scott Waddle, the commanding officer of the USS Greeneville, gave the letters to a Japanese diplomat when he visited the Japanese consulate in Honolulu on Tuesday, the foreign ministry official said.

"Commander Waddle handed over a total of 13 letters" to parliamentary foreign secretary Yoshio Mochizuki, the official said.

The letters were addressed to the families of the nine missing people, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, Ehime governor Moriyuki Kato, the captain of the sunken Japanese vessel and the principal of Uwajima Fisheries High School, he said.

The nine missing include four 17-year-old students from Uwajima Fisheries High School.

Waddle "repeatedly said with tears in his eyes he feels extremely sorry for the accident", Mochizuki told reporters at Honolulu international airport, according to Kyodo News agency.

"I assume he has made an apology because he used that word," he said.

Mochizuki left Hawaii on Wednesday.

Earlier, Waddle had expressed regret over the collision but stopped short of apologising, in a letter sent to Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) through his lawyers in Washington.

"It is with a heavy heart that I express my most sincere regret" to the Japanese people and families of victims of the accident, the commander said in the letter.

Waddle is scheduled to appear at a special navy panel on March 5 to mark the start of the formal inquiry into the February 9 accident.

Meanwhile, US special envoy Admiral William Fallon visited Ehime on Thursday, 1 200km west of Tokyo, where Uwajima High School is located.

Fallon held a 30-minute talk with governor Kato and visited the high school later in the day.

"The admiral apologised for the accident and told the governor that the US would do its utmost to raise the sunken vessel," said an official from the Ehime prefectural government.

Details of Fallon's meeting with school officials were not available.

The 499-tonne Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru was used to train students of Uwajima Fisheries High School. The vessel now lies on the seabed 600m below the surface. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA