Owners of a shipwrecked yacht are set to pay the state $375,000 in a settlement over a 2023 incident where a yacht ran aground on a coral reef off the Maui coast.
In February 2023, the 94-foot-long yacht named Nakoa, owned and operated by Honolulu-based Noelani Yacht Charters, ran aground after becoming detached from its mooring in Honolua Bay. The vessel remained grounded for about two weeks until a salvage team determined that the yacht could not be salvaged, and scuttled the yacht.
However, in the course of running aground, the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources found that the Nakoa damaged or destroyed at least 119 living coral colonies when running aground, and damaged more than 1,600 square meters of additional “live rock,” or rock on which marine life was growing.
Hawai’i statutes prohibit taking, breaking or damaging any coral or live rock, with fines of up to $1,000 per specimen injured. Consequently, the DLNR initially found Noelani Yacht Charters, its agent Jim Jones, and yacht owners Kevin and Kimberly Albert to be liable for more than $1.7 million in fines, although it recommended that only a total fine of about $117,000 be levied in 2023.
However, following public outcry by West Maui residents over the state’s perceived lenience, the Board of Land and Natural Resources increased the fine assessment to $1.8 million.
That assessment has been tied up in contested case proceedings ever since. The Alberts — from whom Noelani Charters purchased the Nakoa in a 2022 transaction the charter company was still paying off when the boat sank months later — challenged the fines, arguing that they could not be liable for the coral damage because the Nakoa had been stolen at the time of the incident.
In fact, according to the contested case documents, the Alberts had reported the Nakoa stolen on Feb. 17, 2023, three days before the vessel ran aground. The person they accused of stealing the yacht was Jones, who was reportedly using the yacht for a personal trip when it ran aground.
However, in the course of the contested case proceedings throughout 2024 and 2025, the Alberts ultimately agreed to a settlement in which they would pay $375,000 to resolve the DLNR’s claims against them.
The Division of Aquatic Resources notes that, between this settlement and another in federal court — in which the United States required the Alberts to pay an unspecified sum to cover the U.S. Coast Guard’s removal costs following the grounding — the Alberts will ultimately pay close to $1 million in total for the incident.
However, the settlement applies to the Alberts only. The DLNR retains its claims against Jones and Noelani Charters and the state “maintains [its] pursuit of accountability” against them.
The BLNR will discuss whether to approve the settlement on Friday, Nov. 13.
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