LAHAINA, Hawaii — The effort to remove 2,500 gallons of fuel from the Maui Princess that grounded off Lahaina last week began Monday. It will take a few days to get the fuel, batteries, hazardous materials and other items off the ferry, according to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The ferry broke from its mooring further offshore last Thursday morning after a part reportedly failed.

David Willoughby of Willoughby Consulting and Adjusting is overseeing the defueling process. He said it could take a helicopter up to 10 trips to remove most of the fuel.

“Compared to some other groundings I’ve been involved with, while in the U.S. Coast Guard, and while owning my own company, this one is relatively easy,” Willoughby said.

Once everything is removed, a salvage contractor will work on moving the 100-foot-long passenger vessel back into deeper water. At the moment, the vessel appears to be grounded on a shallow shelf of sand and rubble per the DLNR.

Guidance for the removal process is coming from the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources to minimize impact to the hard substrate and living corals in the surrounding area. As of Monday, biologists were unable to get in the water to assess damage to marine habitat because of high surf along the West Maui coastline.