Superyacht Owners to Pay $100,000 After Damaging Hawaii Coral Reef
After dropping anchor on a Hawaiian reef and damaging hundreds of coral colonies, the owners of a $41 million superyacht will pay $100,000 to the state for coral restoration.
The Formosa, a 197-foot yacht, dropped anchor on a reef in Kailua Bay in October 2018, damaging about 431 coral colonies and 150 square feet of live rock. Before the incident, the area had an estimated coral cover of 50 to 70 percent, a higher-than-average coverage following the 2015 bleaching.
Nikki Smith, a biologist with Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), said in a statement the damage was “quite extensive,” largely due to the anchor's chain "swinging through the bed."
In total, biologists estimate the incident impacted more than 11,000 square feet of the Kailua Bay Zone of the Kona Coast Fishery Management Area.
Formosa Wealth Management Group, which owns the boat, recently settled with the state on a fine that will support reef restoration and management in West Hawaii.
The DAR originally proposed a fine of $153,400, plus $5,123 for the cost of a follow-up investigation in which biologists went on three dives to reposition and stabilize more than 50 large colonies and 250 coral fragments. The State Board of Land and Natural Resources ultimately voted to approve a $100,000 settlement, in part due to the difficulty of charging a vessel flying under a foreign flag.
“It’s a significant fine, and I don’t think it’s letting them off lightly,” board member Chris Yuen tells the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. “I am alarmed at the amount of damage done, but it is a significant fine, and I like the fact that we’re going to be able to earmark the settlement money for the region impacted.”
James Gomes, the lone board vote against the settlement, called it a “slap on the wrist.”
Currently, the Formosa is for sale, with an asking price of about $41.5 million. The yacht is typically in Asia, and has not been to Hawaii since the 2018 incident.