BLNR boosts fine for grounded yacht on Maui to $1.8M

Nina Wu, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
·3 min read
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Apr. 30—1/1

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COURTESY HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES / 2023

BLNR seeks to fine the operator/owner of the Nakoa $1.8 million for the damages to corals and live rock, as well as damages to culture and community caused by the yacht's grounding at Honolua Bay.

The Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources has decided to significantly boost a fine for the grounding of a luxury yacht near Honolua Bay last year to more than $1.8 million.

The board on Friday increased the recommended fine from , to the new maximum amount of $1,818,851.97, after hearing impassioned testimony from members of the community.

John Carty of the Save Honolua Coalition asked the BLNR to send a powerful message to boat owners to honor the community's pain and suffering.

"It has been a hellish year for our community," he testified, noting there was also a fuel leak. "We've endured too much. It's unthinkable, and a slap on the wrist today for the boat owners would be a slap in our face and we have gone through too much. This desecration and damage to one of our most sacred places demands a $1.8 million fine."

The fines are to be levied against Jim Jones of Noelani Yacht Charters LLC, Kevin S. Albert. Kimberly L. Albert and the Albert Revocable Trust.

In February 2023, the Nakoa, a luxury yacht, broke free of its mooring and grounded on a reef near the Honolua-Mokuleia Bay Marine Life Conservation District, damaging 119 coral colonies and some 1,640 square meters of live rock.

After several unsuccessful towing attempts, the yacht was finally pulled free the following month, but took on water en route to Oahu and of the ocean off Maui.

The DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources recommended the original, lesser fine based on damages plus administrative costs, while leaving consideration of penalties for cultural damage and community distress to the board.

These proposed fines were submitted to the board a third time, this time after input from a community meeting held in Lahaina in February.

The community generally felt the recommended fines were too low, and that the board should pursue the maximum fine to deter this type of behavior in the future. Also, the fines should be used to increase enforcement and better moorings — and Honolua Bay should be closed to all commercial activities if it cannot be policed and managed.

The decision was unanimous and unprecedented, according to a news release from the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.

"This was a win for natural, biological, and cultural resources and for an entire community which places great value on a cherished bay and the life it supports, said BLNR Chair Dawn Chang. "I'm proud of the BLNR for sending a strong message, that if you damage Hawaii's precious resources and cause distress for people, the penalties can be significant."

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