Ehime Prefectural Government
Ehime Prefectural Assembly February 20th, 2001 Admiral Dennis Blair Commander in Chief U.S. Pacific Command Box 64028 Camp H.M. Smith HI 96861-4028 Admiral Dennis Blair,
This is to bring to your attention my sincere request on behalf of the people of Ehime, in light of their feelings and concerns following the recent accident. On February 9th in Hawaii - the 10th in Japan - the training vessel "Ehime Maru" of the Ehime Prefecture Uwajima Marine and Fisheries Senior High School sank in the ocean off Hawaii due to the execution of an emergency ascent drill of the US Navy's nuclear-powered submarine "Greeneville"; all the people of Ehime are grieving deeply and indignant because of both the disaster caused by the sudden surfacing of the "Greeneville" and the fact that the whereabouts of 9 people is still unknown. Furthermore, 20 years ago, on April 9th 1981, the nuclear-powered submarine "George Washington" collided with the freighter "Nishho Maru" of Ehime in the East China Sea, and 2 people were killed. The US Navy should have learned from that accident, but instead, another accident has occurred. This is very tragic and regrettable. I wish to express my gratitude for the continued efforts of the US Navy in conducting the search. However, it is obvious that the cause of this recent accident is that the nuclear-powered submarine neglected to take adequate safety measures before conducting the emergency ascent drill. On behalf of the people of this prefecture, I insist on a sincere and responsible reaction from the US Navy concerning the following points:
Yours sincerely,
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| The counter-measure headquarters to a sinking
accident of a traning vessel of Uwajima Fisheries High School |
