Maui Dive Shop boat sink[ing]

[KrisB]

Just heard some news worthy of sharing here... one of the aluminium boats (12-pack?) that Maui Dive Shop runs out of the Kihei Small Boat Ramp on Maui is currently sitting with only its bow about 3 feet out of the water, still attached to the mooring at Enenue (a Molokini site).

All crew and guests are reportedly OK, though it seems their personal effects have been lost.

No word yet on whether we'll have a wreck dive to do at Molokini, or if they're able to recover it.

Hopefully this doesn't create more political stir in terms of environmental impact -- I suppose there is potential for the county/state to further restrict access to the Molokini MLCD as a result of this incident.

I'll post more news as I become aware of it.

 

[MAUI DIVER]

any updates yet....
let us know.

mahalo

 

[KrisB]

I probably won't know more until early tomorrow afternoon... will post ASAIK.

 

[kidspot]

nothing that I could find in the news tonight ... glad everyone was ok.

 

[KrisB]

Ok, so here's the latest... it was the Kai Anela.

Apparently it was the captain's first "command" and after the mooring had be released, neglected to wait for it to sink, and the line was sucked into the jet boat's impeller.

When he called back to find out what to do, he was instructed to open the inspection plate -- apparently this would have worked fine if there were no passengers on board, but with the added weight, this plate was actually below sea level and the water rushed in.

After removing the plate, the captain panicked (froze) and was not able to come up with a solution to fix this, and the boat filled with water after several minutes. The captain had neglected to send an SOS, and the incident was radioed in by a passing fisherman who noticed the snorkelers climbing up onto the islet.

Last night, the Coast Guard decided that the ship was a hazard being semi afloat (in case it broke free of the mooring, etc.) and compromised it, sinking it to the bottom, in 40' of water. Unfortunately this was directly on some coral...

There is apparently now quite a crew out there working on how and what to do to resolve this... at very least it will mean an environmental cleanup of some sort, I'm sure!

As we can see, the news is different from reality: http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=23789

 

[Wildcard]

Awsome! new wreckdive at the crater....Silly people, how do they get there tickets?

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Good grief, does it ever end???

 

[kidspot]

Not a good first day at work for that captain At the shop today I was told it was resting in 97fsw - guess they heard wrong as well ...

Thanks for the news Kris.

Aloha, Tim

 

[KrisB]

Not a good first day at work for that captain At the shop today I was told it was resting in 97fsw - guess they heard wrong as well ...

Thanks for the news Kris.

Aloha, Tim

NP.

My source could be wrong, too... but it is Enenue, and it was a snorkel boat, so unless they moved it before sinking it, then it's probably closer to the 40' side.

There were a few people (customers) at the shop that heard this and pumped their fists and said "YEEEEEEEEAH! Another wreck dive -- and it's at Molokini!"

It will certainly be interesting to see what sort of reprecussions come of this for MDS and the captain.

 

[kidspot]

I just had customers in the shop that were on the boat yesterday ... few scratches etc. to show from their time "on" Molokini - they were amazed at how fast it all happened ...

How were conditions out there yesterday?