Navatek II fails to sell at auction

In its heyday the Navatek II, also known as SKYE, was a big boat. Now the 85-foot catamaran is a big problem.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources impounded the vessel in March after owner Miraclei LLC, a trust that includes Shane Lawler, maxed out the Navatek II’s temporary permit at the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor. In May, after the vessel began listing in the water, the state paid $35,000 to move it to a ground lot across from the Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki where it still sits.

Lawler, a local entrepreneur who has worked with dive boats in the Bahamas, said he had only intended to leave the boat at the Ala Wai harbor temporarily, until slips at Kewalo Basin were renovated, but those renovations have taken longer than expected.

Previously, Lawler said he had big plans to restore the vessel, which was in the opening scene of the movie “Jurassic Park II.” He had anticipated investing $3.5 million to $4 million to turn it into a high-end attraction called Skye Yacht, which would provide luxury sailing charters, dinner cruises and special events to 40 to 80 passengers. He would also replace the diesel motors with more environmentally friendly electric motors.

But his dream seems to be slipping away. On Friday the state tried to sell the vessel at auction for a minimum asking bid of $20,000, but no one bid on it, including Lawler.

Now the DLNR’s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation is responsible for the cost of its disposal, which Meghan Statts, DOBOR assistant administrator, said is likely to be significant.

Statts said a man expressed interest after the auction in removing the vessel for free if he could take possession of it without paying additional fees.

“We’ll explore that offer, but we’ll have to work through our attorneys,” Statts said. “Worst-case scenario: We’ll have to pay someone to dispose of the vessel. We’d have to bid that through the Hawaii Electronic Procurement System. I don’t know what that will cost, but the bids just to relocate it from the lot came in between $250,000 and $300,000.”

Statts said if the state is left with disposal costs, it would have to cover them by dipping into the special boating fund, which is made up entirely of fees individual boaters pay for the use of slips and moorings, and live-aboard privileges.

“Unfortunately, when boat owners do not keep up with their obligations or lack enough insurance to salvage their inoperable vessels, the burden falls to every boater in the state, and it cuts into money that we can make available for harbor improvements,” Statts said. “It’s frustrating when the owner should be the one who is responsible.”

Lawler said he didn’t remove the boat because he couldn’t find anywhere else to put it. The state ended up placing the boat on a nearby grass lot, which is part of the lands planned for a future public private redevelopment at the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor.

Complaints have come from the harbor and nearby businesses, which say the Navatek II is an eyesore. But while some would like the saga of the Navatek II to come to an end, others say they are sad to see another unique and historically significant vessel disposed of like trash.

“It’s an eyesore, but I’d still like to see it repaired,” said Mark Hudman, a boater aboard the Tara, which sits within direct view of the Navatek II. “I’d like to see it cruising the seas again. In the 1980s when it was built, it looked like a spaceship. In its day it was like, wow.”

Local boater and inventor Dennis Ruediger said he reached out to a billionaire investor to save the Navatek II but wasn’t able to get to him by auction time. Ruediger, who cared enough about the Navatek II to show up at its auction, said he was disappointed to find out that the state is now planning for its disposal.

“I’d like to see somebody use it,” Ruediger said. “It’s a unique design with great engineering. I think it would have made a fine oceanography vessel.”

Statts said the state will attempt to collect on the debt from the Navatek II’s owners, who so far haven’t made any attempt to repay the state.

While the Navtek II didn’t sell, Statts said the state did manage to sell four other boats that also were impounded.