Nine missing after Hawaii sub collision

Stunned survivors were brought ashore by coastguards

Nine people are missing after a Japanese fisheries research ship sank off Hawaii after being struck by a US nuclear submarine.

I felt two great shocks... I looked back and saw the submarine surface

Ehime Maru captain Hisao Oonishi

The accident happened 14km (nine miles) off Honolulu harbour at 1345 (2345 GMT) as the USS Greeneville was surfacing.

Its stern hit the Ehime Maru, a training vessel from a Japanese fishery high school with 35 people on board including 13 students.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said the US had apologised for the incident.

Coastguards said they had picked up 26 people, some with minor injuries.

Ehime Maru: Training vessel from a Japanese fishery school

Those missing include four 17-year-old students, two teachers and three crew.

The survivors were said to have been huddled in three life rafts and soaked with diesel fuel.

A search plane, helicopters and patrol boats are searching the area for the missing.

Chief Petty Officer Gary Openshaw of the US Coast Guard said: "We remain hopeful, but as the hours pass any chance of finding survivors diminishes."

Prayers for rescue

Parents and fellow students gathered on Saturday at the Uwajima Marine and Fisheries High School in Ehime Prefecture about 670km (420 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

Vice Principal Kazumitsu Jyoko told Reuters news agency: "I am hoping and praying they will be found safe."

A spokesman for the US Navy Pacific Fleet, Commander Bruce Cole, said: "It's important to say the Navy regrets this unfortunate incident."

Commander Cole said it was not known why the submarine surfaced below the Ehime Maru. "It would not have surfaced if it had seen the boat," he said.

The Japanese Government said it would be seeking talks with the US Government to determine the cause of the incident.

An investigation by the US Navy is already under way.

Study trip

US Navy spokeswoman Lieutenant Commander Jane Campbell said the USS Greeneville, which has a crew of about 130, had been on routine operations when it hit the Japanese boat.

Ehime Maru

Length: 58m

Breadth: 9.3m

Tonnage: 741

Speed: 12.5 knots

Constructed 1996

No-one on board the American submarine was hurt and the vessel was undamaged.

The Ehime Maru sailed from Honolulu harbour and is thought to have been observing tuna stocks in the area.

The training ship had left Japan on 10 January and was scheduled to return on 23 March.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said President George W Bush had been told about the incident.

USS Greeneville

Los Angeles-class sub

360 feet (108m) long with a diameter of 33 feet (9.9m)

Armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles

Commissioned in 1996

Home port is Pearl Harbor

The nuclear-powered USS Greeneville was commissioned in February 1996 and its home port is Pearl Harbor.

A Los Angeles-class sub, she is 108 metres (360 feet) long, has a diameter of 9.9 metres (33 feet) and displaces 6,900 tons submerged.

The submarine is armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles.