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Yacht owners agree to $375K settlement for 2023 grounding at Honolua Bay

The state Board of Land and Natural Resources on Friday approved a $375,000 settlement with the owners of a 94-foot yacht that ran aground at Honolua Bay in February 2023, damaging coral and live rock along the shoreline.

The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Aquatic Resources had recommended the board approve the settlement with Kevin and Kimberly Albert and the Albert Revocable Trust.

DAR said it supported the proposed settlement because the amount was substantially higher than what DAR originally recommended, while still reflecting "the severity of the violation" and bringing the matter closer to a resolution.

On Feb. 20, 2023, the 120-ton yacht Nakoa detached from its mooring in Honolua Bay and ran aground on the rocky shoreline between Honolua Bay and Lipoa Point, just outside the Honolua-Mokuleia Bay Marine Life Conservation District.

DAR assessments conducted Feb. 21 and March 7, 2023, found the grounding and subsequent salvage operations damaged at least 119 stony coral colonies and 1,640.5 square meters of live rock.

"The area where it ran aground was kind of flat papa reef, inside the surfbreak, just outside of the (conservation district). There's a lot of impacted live rock, but not a whole lot of living coral. That's partially why the recommendation was a fair bit lower," Russell Sparks, a DLNR biologist who worked on the initial assessment, told the board.

Sparks said the biggest impacts came during the salvage effort, which left a couple of deep scars in the substrate.

"Those scars would still probably be there, but the habitat itself would be indistinguishable if you didn't know exactly where it grounded -- just because that type of habitat, it's not like a thriving, thick coral reef. It's just kind of flat pavement-y stuff," Sparks explained.

At the time of the grounding, Jim Jones was using the vessel, and the Alberts were not on board.

According to the settlement agreement, the Alberts had entered into a vessel installment purchase and management agreement with Jones and Noelani Yacht Charters LLC in December 2022. Jones and the company had paid only a small portion of the purchase price when the yacht ran aground.

Kevin Albert's attorney addressed the board Friday, saying the Alberts understand and appreciate the significant environmental harm and community, recreational and cultural injuries the grounding caused, but reiterated that her clients were not onboard at the time and did not approve of the excursion.

The attorney said the Alberts are "taking responsibility as owners, not as the operator."

After the grounding, DLNR and the U.S. Coast Guard coordinated the removal of fuel, batteries and other potential pollutants before the yacht was removed from the shoreline March 5, 2023. The vessel subsequently sank due to damage sustained during the grounding.

Public access to portions of the surrounding area was restricted during parts of the response, and community testimony described substantial cultural, recreational and personal impacts, according to DAR.

Under the settlement, the Alberts have agreed to pay $375,000 to resolve the enforcement claims against them. The agreement does not resolve the state’s claims against Jones and Noelani Yacht Charters.

According to DAR, the state initiated enforcement proceedings against Jones, Noelani Yacht Charters and the Alberts in July 2023, with DAR initially recommending $117,471 in administrative fines and costs.

The board tentatively accepted a settlement with the Alberts, but that settlement was never finalized. DAR returned to the board with the enforcement action in January 2024, but the board deferred action and directed DAR to obtain input from the West Maui community.

DAR held a public meeting at Kumulani Chapel on Feb. 22, 2024, where attendees emphasized the area’s cultural importance and called for stronger penalties.

On April 26, 2024, DAR resubmitted the action, and the board increased the fine assessment to more than $1.8 million. In response, the Alberts requested a contested case hearing.

The board denied their request on procedural grounds, but the Alberts appealed to the First Circuit Court in June 2024. The court reversed the board’s decision and directed it to conduct a contested case hearing.

In its written submission to the board, DAR acknowledged that the proposed settlement was below the April 2024 assessment but said it still "represents a meaningful increase" over the division’s initial recommendation. The $375,000 settlement is approximately 3.2 times the original $117,471 recommendation.

"DAR recognizes that monetary recovery cannot fully replace the damaged resources or the community's hardship as a result of the grounding," DAR wrote in its recommendation to the board. "The proposal provides substantial compensation through a negotiated resolution while maintaining the state's pursuit of accountability against Jones and Noelani Yacht Charters."

DAR also noted that the federal government filed a separate complaint against the Alberts in September 2025 under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to recover costs incurred by the Coast Guard in responding to the Nakoa grounding.

The Alberts settled the federal case in September 2026 for several hundred thousand dollars, according to DAR, although the exact amount was not disclosed in the federal court docket. Kevin Albert's attorney said the couple paid more than $400,000 to resolve that complaint.

DAR said the $375,000 from the settlement will be put in a trust account and dedicated toward stewardship projects at Honolua Bay, adjacent areas or in the community.