HONOLULU (AP) -- Rescue crews held out hope that they would find nine people who were in a Japanese fishing vessel that sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean after colliding with a Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine.

Twenty-six survivors who were stranded amid the debris and covered with diesel fuel from the crash were brought to shore. The boat was carrying high school students who were learning how to fish.

The USS Greeneville came up under the 180-foot boat, ripping the engine room open and causing two resounding booms. Seconds later, water flooded the vessel, sinking it within minutes, said a Coast Guard translator describing the Friday collision nine miles south of Waikiki.

"Most of the people were below deck in the rooms or galley," said Petty Officer Michael Carr, who interviewed the survivors. "After the lights went out, everyone started yelling that the water is coming into the ship. That's when most of the people we saw started fleeing."

The boat carried 20 crew members, two teachers and 13 students from the Uwajima Fisheries High School in the southwestern Japanese state of Ehime. The missing included four high school students, two teachers and three crew members.

The boat, the Ehime Maru, left Japan on Jan. 10 to hunt for tuna, swordfish and shark.

The Navy and Coast Guard hoped to find people clinging to the wreckage. "We found some debris earlier today, but no sign of survivors yet," said Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Greg Fondran.

The survivors huddled in three life rafts before being rescued. Petty Officer Thomas Kron, who was on the Coast Guard patrol boat, said the survivors were soaked with diesel fuel that spilled when the boat sank.

"They seemed like they were in shock. They were fatigued by the time we got there. Some of them were seasick and some of them were glad to see us," he said.

The survivors were taken to the Coast Guard station at Honolulu Harbor's Sand Island. Some walked off on their own; others were carried on stretchers and covered in blankets.

Fondran said none appeared to be seriously injured. A wounded shoulder appeared to be the worst injury, he said.

Twelve were taken to local hospitals for treatment of minor injuries while 14 were cared for at the base, including showers to wash off the fuel, he said.

Dressed in blue jump suits, the survivors lined up to use the single phone available to them at the base, to let their families in Japan know that they were safe.

Japanese officials said they were scrambling to coordinate a response to the accident.

"It's a bit chaotic right now," said Uwajima municipal official Masanori Mori. "There's a great deal of shock."

Mori said the Ehime Prefectural government had set up a crisis center to assist families and cull information on the accident.

The Greeneville was not damaged, Navy spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Cate Mueller said in Washington. It was not immediately known how many crew members were aboard the Greeneville, a Pearl Harbor-based sub that is equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said the United States had apologized.

"The United States extended its apologies and promised utmost efforts to find the missing," Mori said.

"It's important to say the Navy regrets this unfortunate incident," said Cmdr. Bruce Cole, a spokesman for the Pacific Fleet. "We're very concerned about the families and friends of those for whom we search."

He said it is not known why the submarine surfaced under the vessel. Cole promised a full investigation.

The Greeneville was commissioned in February 1996. It is 360 feet long, has a diameter of 33 feet and displaces 6,900 tons submerged.

The crash is the second major accident involving a Navy vessel near Hawaii in seven months. The USS Denver, a 570-foot amphibious transport dock ship, was preparing to receive fuel from the USNS Yukon, a Military Sealift Command oiler, when the two vessels collided.

No one was injured, but the 677-foot Yukon sustained heavy damage to its right side and the Denver had a 25-foot-deep gash in its bow.

On the Net:
The U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet: http://www.csp.navy.mil

Secondo la statistica, le possibilità che un tale incidente accada sono talmente rare da essere paragonabili alla probabilità che due sommergibili nucleari si scontrino (Kursk) o che esploda una centrale nucleare (TMI, Cernobil). Trascurabili, insomma (per "loro").