The 75-foot passenger vessel The Discovery, which grounded on August 9 at Kewalo Basin, has been removed following a multi-agency effort. The operation involved the Department of Land and Natural Resources’s Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement and the U.S. Coast Guard, with safety and environmental precautions in place, according to the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement officers secured the ocean and maintained a safety perimeter on land for over 24 hours after the incident and during the boat removal. Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation and the US Coast Guard worked with the vessel’s owner to review and approve salvage plans. "The vessel owner took immediate responsibility and hired a contractor to remove the boat on the day of the grounding," DOBOR Administrator Meghan Statts said, as reported by the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
The salvage of The Discovery involved careful monitoring by the contractor to prevent fuel or hazardous material leaks. Last week, Division of Aquatic Resources staff surveyed the site and marked GPS coordinates for the safest extraction routes. Jake Reichert, a DAR Aquatic Biologist, said, "What we found so far is mostly damage to live rock with a couple of coral colonies that had some fragments." The Division of Aquatic Resources continues to check for any further damage from the grounding or salvage operation, as stated by the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
