Submarine commander Scott Waddle of the USS Greenville, which struck and sunk a Japanese trawler off Hawaii, has expressed his "most sincere regret" - but stopped short of an apology.
Nine of the 35 people aboard the Japanese training vessel, Ehime Maru, are missing and presumed dead.
The families of the missing people have demanded a personal apology from Waddle, but his statement, aired on Japanese television, has not won favour.
Shunsuke Terata, whose 17-year-old brother Yusuke is still missing, said: "It's not an apology until he says it to each one of us in person."
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