The Department of Land and Natural Resources said bad weather may have contributed to the grounding of two boats on Maui. One of the boat owners walked away from its vessel, leaving DLNR’s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation with the large expense of removing the boat.

What You Need To Know

  • Two boats grounded near Maui likely as a result of bad weather

  • One of the boats, Chaparral, was abandoned by its owner after grounding near Maui, leaving DLNR’s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation with the large expense of removing the boat

  • “The bids we received to attempt to tow the Chaparral to Oahu were around a million dollars plus," said Ed Underwood, the DOBOR administrator

  • The second boat in question is the Expeditions Lanai Ferry, which grounded Monday morning outside the Maalaea Small Boat Harbor

A former Navy torpedo boat, Chaparral, broke loose from its mooring and grounded on the shoreline next to a North Kihei condominium, according to a DLNR news release sent Thursday. 

A contractor cut through the vessel’s decking to reach the hull, which had many holes, so that the U.S. Coast Guard could clean up fuel and other hazardous items like batteries. The hull’s holes had to be sealed to pump out fuel, oil and other liquids, according to Ed Underwood, the DOBOR administrator. “During this process, more holes may have occurred, so we’re not sure about the state of the hull at this moment.” 

On Thursday morning, DOBOR learned that there may still be hazardous materials on the Chaparral, which requires the implementation of best management practices to ensure nothing leaks into the ocean. DOBOR had already contracted a salvage company, but because of the leftover hazardous materials, on Thursday they issued a new request for bids to five Hawaii-based salvage contractors. 

Underwood said the Chaparral will need to be cut up in order to get it off the beach. “We have looked at either removing the boat by sea, which will require the boat to be patched as best we can. It would have to be towed over a shallow reef, and then ultimately to Oahu. We don’t know whether the boat will even make it. We feel it’s better to dispose of it in place.” 

Boat owners who use the state’s small boat harbors are legally required to have insurance. However, some don’t. With the Chaparral, the owners apparently walked away after the grounding, which means the DOBOR boating special fund will cover the salvage costs.   

According to Underwood, the boating special fund comes from user fees boat owners pay, which includes mooring fees and commercial use fees. “The bids we received to attempt to tow the Chaparral to Oahu were around a million dollars plus. The earlier bids, to cut it up in place, ranged between $149,000 and $600,000.” 

However, Underwood said that the boating special fund doesn’t have a million-dollar balance, meaning salvaging the Chaparral will likely wipe out the program for up to three months. 

“We do understand that members of the community don’t want it disposed of there because it’s adjacent to a beach park that’s heavily used by canoe paddlers and others. However, dragging this boat over a shallow reef could be much more detrimental to our natural resources. Or it could sink,” said DLNR Chair Dawn Chang. “There are too many variables trying to tow it versus cutting it in place.” 

The second boat in question is the Expeditions Lanai Ferry, which grounded Monday morning outside the Maalaea Small Boat Harbor, after its captain apparently missed channel markers. 

“Right now it’s physically sitting just on a reef, but we’re not quite sure whether it’s coral or rubble,” said DOBOR Assistant Administrator Meghan Statts. “We are having a DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources biologist. When the weather dies down, go out to assess the area just to make sure that it’s not sitting on coral.” 

According to DLNR, the boat’s owner hired a contractor who plans to salvage the boat Saturday morning.