Maui Princess runs aground near Lahaina Thursday night
Defueling attempts ongoing
Trending
The Maui News
KAHULUI--The passenger ship 'Maui Princess' ran aground near Lahaina off the west coast of Maui last Thursday night and has remained there ever since. The boat broke free from its mooring further offshore Thursday morning after a part reportedly failed and is hard-aground on what appears to be a shallow shelf of sand and rubble, according to the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR).
The DLNR says defueling efforts were underway Monday afternoon and will continue into the coming days to remove 2,500 gallons of fuel from the grounded boat. The process of getting fuel, batteries, hazardous materials, and other items off the Maui Princess is expected to take a few days.
The DLNR said on Monday there has been no oil or gas leakage resulting from the ship running aground last week. Defueling may be completed by Tuesday, but is expected to be completed no longer than Wednesday.
"We have no timeline on salvage, other than we'd like to see it completed as soon as possible, while minimizing any potential damage to coral reefs," the DLNR told The Maui News on Monday.
The owner/operator of the vessel is 72-year-old David Jung. Jung has insurance which will cover the costs of salvaging the boat and damage to the reef will be assessed once the ship is removed so the full extent of the damage can be assessed, the DLNR said.
Jung has reportedly tried to hire a tugboat to attempt to remove the Maui Princess at high tide, but those efforts have been unsuccessful.
The Maui Princess is a popular sunset dinner cruise that has struggled in finding a commercial slip to permanently dock at since the Lahaina wildfires took place last August, Jung has said publicly. The boat has not operated in a commercial capacity since the August 2023 wildfires, according to Tripadvisor.
Angry comments flooded social media in response to the third high profile vessel to run aground on the westside of Maui in the last year and a half.
"Time to put a moratorium on all commercial use permits until DLNR/DOBOR/DOCARE demonstrate that they have the ability to properly manage commercial activity with adequate facilities and staffing to conduct regular inspections, enforcement and monitoring," Kai Nashiki said in a comment on Facebook.
Jung, who told NBC News last August that he escaped the Lahaina fires in his catamaran, has been on the other side of a grounded vessel when he helped free 'The Spirit of Lahaina' from its confines in 2010 while operating the Kaulana as the senior captain for the Lahaina Cruise Co.
Jung told the Professional Mariner in 2010 he pulled the grounded catamaran off a sandbar just outside the channel. Jung said then that the channel is narrow and a "bad approach" usually is the reason for groundings there.
This time around, the grounding came as a result of the ship breaking from its mooring location, according to the DLNR.
"I have pulled quite a few of these cats off," Jung said in 2010. "When your vessel is close to running aground, the natural reaction is to pull the bow away (from the grounding). This just runs the stern and props aground. It is better to stop and maneuver the vessel. These cats are very maneuverable. Operators also need to understand the pivot point of their vessel."