Science Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Tuesday that he has told a marine science center to prepare for the possible dispatch of its research vessel to Hawaii in order to probe Friday's collision between a Japanese fisheries training ship and a U.S. nuclear submarine that has left nine people missing.
Machimura told reporters he instructed the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center to prepare its research vessel, the Kaiyo, which is scheduled to return today to its home port in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The minister said the dispatch of the research vessel depends on the U.S. government's handling of the 499-ton training ship Ehime Maru, which sank shortly after being rammed by the USS Greeneville, a 6,080-ton, 110-meter attack sub based in Pearl Harbor.
Japan has been urging the United States to raise the ship and conduct an investigation. Washington is currently considering what action to take.
The Kaiyo has been cruising off the coast of the Ogasawara Islands south of Tokyo. It could depart for Hawaii as early as Saturday, Machimura said.
The research vessel is equipped with a remotely operated vehicle called a Hyper Dolphin, capable of submerging to 3,000 meters, he added.
The vehicle, which connects to the research ship via a cable, could monitor the condition of the sunken ship with an underwater camera, but is not capable of raising the ship.
Defense Agency chief Toshitsugu Saito said at a separate press conference that he is ready to dispatch minesweepers to Hawaii to locate the sunken ship.
Saito said he will order the dispatch once he receives a request, but he said Maritime Self-Defense Force minesweepers will be unable to salvage the ship, which is believed to be 550 meters underwater, off Oahu Island.