The present situation in deep-sea salvage operations, which involve extraordinary costs, is that no commercial market yet exists. This raises many questions concerning both the equipment and technological aspects of such heavy-duty deep-sea activities. Consequently, in raising the Ehime-Maru 610m from the sea floor, many difficulties can be anticipated. At the same time, however, hopefully it will also trigger many significant breakthroughs in the development of deep-sea salvage technology.

　

 At about 1:45pm on the 10th of February 2001, the "USS Greenville", a US Navy nuclear powered submarine, plowed into the Ehime-Maru, a 499-long ton marine training vessel, owned by the Ehime Marine High School of Uwajima City in Ehime. The "Greenville" was in the middle of a rapid resurfacing maneuver, 10.2 miles (18.5 km) off the coast of Diamond Head in Oahu Island, Hawaii. The vessel sank without even a moment's notice and now sits on the sea floor, 61O meters from the surface. Almost immediately after the impact, the crew of the Ehime-Maru attempted their own rescue operation, but tragically the accident ended in the lives of nine people being lost. Forty-five minutes after the collision, the US Coast Guard's rescue ship arrived on the scene to pick up the survivors and search for the missing crewmembers. In the following days, the search was continued by air and sea, right around the clock. The US Navy also requested the use of other apparatus such as "Remotely Operated Vehicles" (ROVs) and "Side Scan Sonars", enabling a stereoscopic search to be made of the area from air to sea floor. Alas, no sign of the nine victims was ever found, and after almost a month of activities, the search was called off.

 Judging by the way the Ehime-Maru disappeared below the surface less than fifteen minutes after the impact, it became obvious to the grieving parties that the missing nine people were more than likely trapped below deck, leading to increasing pleas for the sunken vessel to be recovered, in addition to the cries to extend the search and rescue effort. In reply to Japan's requests, the United States government indicated they would do everything in their power to recover the bodies of the missing, and consequently operations began moving towards the raising of the sunken vessel. A two-month environmental assessment of the area was completed as the first stage of the operations, and following this, it was estimated that a start could be made on the recovery this coming summer.

 Under the US Navy framework, all salvage operations of US Navy or related aircraft and ships are consigned by contract to private enterprises. The Ehime-Maru salvage was accordingly consigned to the Dutch salvaging company "Smit International" who were signed up with US Navy at the time. I was also involved in the early salvaging developments. I served as a salvage advisor from February 12th to 27th following the collision, at the "Ehime-Maru Rescue Response Center", which was set up by the Japanese Consulate in Hawaii, and also investigated the possibility of making a salvage through the observation of the under water operations of the ROVs "Scorpio" and "Deep Drone".

　

 Japan's record in deep-sea salvaging is the raising of a 50-long ton private marine research vessel "Heriosu" from a depth of 240 meters, after it sank off the coast of Iwashiro in Fukushima Prefecture in July 1988. Successful salvage operations on large vessels of up to 6,000-long tons have been made in shallower waters too, similar to most other smaller recovery attempts that are ordered by insurance companies for vessels sunk in waters that are no deeper than 50 meters. However, salvages are only made when the insurance policy held on the ship (Main Body Insurance) is more than the quote made by the salvage company. In the case that the insurance doesn't cover the salvage costs, the entire insurance payout goes to the ship owner and no salvage attempt is made. The rough cut off point for an economic salvage is therefore around 50 meters, the same depth that is about the limit for general scuba divers. For this reason, there is no commercial market for salvage operations on vessels lying at great depths.

 However, due to recent developments in environmental and humanitarian issues, there is a growing need for a deep-sea salvage industry. The "Heriosu" salvage mentioned above and the recovery of the Ehime-Maru are just two examples of this. The salvage of the Russian tanker "Nakhodka" that caused one of the worlds worst oil spills (the main hull of the ship has been identified at a depth of 2,500 meters) and the child evacuation ship "Tsushima-Maru" (which has been identified at a depth of 840m) have also been discussed by the Japanese government.

 Additionally, the nuclear powered Russian submarine "Kursk" that sank last year to a depth of 105 meters, with an underwater weight 18,000 tons (scheduled to be raised during summer this year) and the Russian Komsomolets that sank in April 1989 and has been traced to a depth of 1,682 meters, with a underwater weight of 4,500 tons, are further examples of potential targets for deep-sea operations internationally. This is not forgetting the more recent gas explosion on oil production plant "P36" off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, which resulted in the structure sinking nearly 2,000 meters to the sea floor.

 In regards to the mere surveying of structures to be uplifted from the sea floor, with the exception of interior surveys, in this day and age there aren't many depths where technology can't go. Furthermore, even in deep-sea regions, the recovery of several ton pieces of crashed aircraft, rockets and other debris is also a very feasible extension of surveying activities.

 The Ehime-Maru salvage, however, is a heavy-duty operation that has to be undertaken in a deep subterranean environment, and that will require a culmination of all the available technology.

　

 As I have stated in the above text, the deep-sea isn't targeted by commercial salvage operations, and so the fact is when it comes to taking on such an operation, mainly due to a lack of specialized machinery and equipment, a quick response is virtually impossible. Especially for underwater equipment, emergency manufacturing often isn't possible and there is a limit to what can be done with the operational technology available commercially.

 In terms of specific issues related to the raising of the Ehime-Maru, one of the biggest issues is the method of attaching the necessary cables to the hull of the ship. The limit for commercial divers who make such operations is about 300 meters, so for anything deeper operations are reliant upon unmanned ROVs. In the case whereby a sunken ship lies on flat on the sea floor, it is normal procedure to lift the stern of the ship and then pass cables under the hull through the space created between the ship and the sea floor. However, for the Ehime-Maru a robot must be used, so it is a case of how much can be dug out from under the hull of the ship, so that cables or metal plates can be passed underneath. Furthermore, I have heard that the lifting cables are to be attached to a lifting beam (diagram above). Therefore, another big issue will be how this attachment is going to be made. The thickness of the lifting cables necessary will be in the vicinity of 110mm, and they will probably weigh more than 50 kilograms per meter, so it will be interesting to see how a ROV will be able to handle such heavy material.

　

　

 These kinds of issues will no doubt be the biggest points of attention in the Ehime-Maru salvage later this summer. However, not only will the operation be of great reference to deep-sea salvage activities of the future, but it is also likely to set the global standard for deep-sea salvage technology.

 As I mentioned earlier in this text, the heavy-duty operations that are required as a consequence of accidents in the deep-seas involve many technological and equipment-manufacturing issues, and there are many cases of emergency responses not being able to be made at the commercial level. For this purpose and from a different point of view, I also hope the Ehime-Maru tragedy will provide the turning point for developing deep-sea accident prevention measures.

 Finally, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the missing 5 crewmembers and the 4 students. I hope that they will be reunited with the remains of their loved ones in the very near future and that they recover from their tragic loss as soon as possible.

　

　

　

 Japan's claims on the Kuril Islands and other territories situated north of Hokkaido present it with problems in terms of national boundary designation. Norway and Russia are also faced with similar issues. Unresolved land disputes and territorial water issues are unlikely to be resolved under the conventional concept of national boundary designation. Therefore, isn't it time for the idealistic shift towards the joint management of territory, irrespective of boundaries, and the creation of a new cultural sphere?

　

 I am just a mere geologist, ignorant of many of the world's politics. However, on reading about the joint resolution of Japanese and Russian scientists on environmental research for the Kuril Islands in the 17th edition of this newsletter, I would like to share with you my thoughts after having worked together with Russian researchers for nearly 30 years.

 While environmental pollution sweeps over man-made boundaries and spreads through out the world without any problems, researchers are always hindered by nationalities and borders, and have a rough time obtaining visas and work permits. Where I live in Norway, the issues surrounding the boundary lines of territorial waters and exclusive economic zones in the Arctic Circle, and in particular the Barents Sea, are the cause of continuing unresolved disputes with Russia, which are indeed very similar to Japan's problems in the Kuril Islands. However, despite the obstacles posed by national boundaries, joint scientific investigations by Norway and Russia into the development of deep-sea oil and natural gas reserves and fishing resources, the chemical pollution from Kol'skii Peninsula, the potential radioactive pollution created by the nuclear testing site on Novaya Zemlya and the several nuclear powered engines dumped around the islands, are making progress at a significant rate.

 I am fully aware that Japan's claims on the Kuril Islands are based on the fervent wishes of the Japanese people, but I dream of a different future for countries and their borders. Present national borders signify the boundaries of a state's political, economic and military power. However, I think the people of the new millennium will rise above the present system, dissolving these kinds of states in exchange for cultural spheres, which will be nations built on the history and natural features of particular areas (Nf: S. P. Huntington, "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order", 1996). This kind of political change will no doubt take several hundred years, but I am convinced that we are unconsciously proceeding towards it even now. For example, under the "Svalbard Treaty" that came into effect in 1925, while Norway was legally granted absolute and unlimited sovereignty over the Svalbard Archipelago, a new territorial concept was implemented when the other signatory countries of the treaty were provided with equal rights to share in the economic activities of the islands. Furthermore, at the opposite pole in Antarctica, all territorial rights are frozen and activities such as scientific environmental research and tourism can only be undertaken with the joint agreement of all countries.

　

　

 If we think of the unresolved territorial issues of Russia and Japan or Norway in light of this possibility for the future, we could forget trying to resolve the issues by conventional border designation, and take advantage of the unresolved issues by turning the areas into a joint management spheres, run by the countries involved. Through such revolutionary management, such areas could be used to study and learn new methods of joint utilization, leading eventually to the joint operation of many countries borders, the mixing of civilization and the furthered expansion of joint management spheres until the shape of historical countries are formed. Consequently, conventional "states" would cease to exist and new "nations" based on the ethnic culture of the regions would evolve. I believe this is perhaps one positive approach that can be taken towards such unresolved issues.

 I believe that if human society doesn't have the intellect and wisdom to end its disunion in the new millennium that we have just entered, then it will certainly signal the future extinction of mankind. This may well be an article far fetched from reality, but for yours truly, someone who studies earth history and the change in living beings over a span of 3 billion years, the existing conflicts between human beings are nothing more than a collection of pathetic and pitiful short term squabbles. In one particular collection of Japanese Haiku poems there exists a prose by Nobuko Inoue that reads (in translation) "Flowers that bloom on borders spread their seeds in ignorance of manmade boundaries". We too need to accumulate wisdom from the small blooming examples that lay before us.

　

　

　

 This paper describes the joint resolution adopted in the UNESCO/MAB-IUCN Workshop titled "Nature Conservation Cooperation on the Kunashir, Iturup. Shikotan and the Habomai Islands," which was held in the National Olympics Memorial Youth Center on January 21, 2001. This resolution states that Japan and Russia can contribute to world peace through environmental conservation activities. It is thought to be a new approach to improving the relations between Japan and Russia regarding the issue of the four northern islands.

　

 WE, THE PARTICIPANTS OF THIS SCIENTIFIC WORKSHOP, RECOGNIZE AS FOLLOWS: the Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and Habomai Islands are home for some of the finest pristine wilderness left on earth. These islands support many species endangered in Hokkaido, serve as part of a major feeding area and migratory route of marine mammals and birds, and represent an invaluable scientific "control" site, rich in the marine resources which have been ravaged in more developed areas of the region.

 Conserving the islands is in the best interests of the peoples of Russia, Japan and the rest of the world, in light of the global problems of dwindling forests, oceanic pollution, loss of biodiversity, and ozone depletion. The nature reserves of Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai should serve as a starting point for, and play a key role in, Russian-Japanese nature cooperation.

 WE BELIEVE AS FOLLOWS: the existing bilateral conservation effort, a few brief and highly restricted trips each year by Japanese scientists, however well-intentioned, is of largely symbolic value, and does not even begin to adequately address the urgent conservation needs of the islands.

 WE THEREFORE URGE OUR COUNTRIES AS FOLLOWS: To move energetically ahead on joint research, field expeditions and conservation. To regular and comprehensive joint Russian-Japanese biological surveys, including censuses of migrating species, should be conducted, so that the islands' vast biodiversity can be properly assessed and maintained. These actions would be enhanced through the publication of joint scientific articles and monographs, joint workshops and conferences, and cooperative programs in the fields of ecotourism and eco-education.

 Equally important, our countries should take effective measures to combat poaching, which has reached epidemic levels and threatens to destroy not only the islands' sanctuary but also commercially vital fisheries in the Sea of Okhotsk. We recognize that this action will not only save wilderness but also protect the marine resources that provide food and jobs for Russians and Japanese.

 FINALLY, WE RECOGNIZE AS FOLLOWS: by working together to protect the wilderness of these islands, our countries would make a huge contribution to environmental conservation as well as to world peace, setting a model for all mankind.

 We urge our countries to act fearlessly, boldly, and with all urgency.