Workers clearing out remnants of 2 grounded boats

Work removing the wreckage of two boats grounded at two locations in Honolulu this week should be completed today.

The engine and other large parts of the 54-foot longline fishing vessel were removed from Point Panic, off the Kewalo Basin entrance channel, yesterday, said Rusty Nall, vice president for Pacific Environmental Corp. The company, which has a $95,000 contract with the state, will complete the cleanup today, he said. Though the boat's engine will not run again, "we're recycling all we possibly can," Nall said.

The Two Star, owned by Leilani Fishing Corp., grounded outside Kewalo Basin early Saturday morning after its engine lost power. The Coast Guard is investigating the incident.

Meanwhile, the sailing vessel Misty Blue was reduced yesterday to "a pile of rubble," said Deborah Ward, spokeswoman for the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Workers with Cates Construction removed the 32-foot boat's mast and top decking yesterday and smashed the rest of it into moveable pieces with an excavator.

"It's kind of munch and crunch," Ward said. The boat's scrap will be shoveled into a rubbish container and removed today, she said.

The Misty Blue grounded east of the Ala Wai Boat Harbor on Tuesday night. It is owned by Christopher Payne.

The DLNR's Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation is paying for the cleanups and will try to get reimbursement from the owners. The sailboat removal will cost $25,000 to $45,000.

Owners of both boats said they did not have the money to remove them and that they had no insurance.