The Coast Guard’s pollution response team is working with the state and the boat owner to ensure that any spilled fuel from a boat that sank in Hawaii Kai Saturday is cleaned up before the vessel is salvaged Tuesday.

Owner Paul Thompson told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the vessel is an older 27-foot Farallon, formerly used as a dive charter boat sank in the Hawaii Kai Marina on Saturday.

The boat is tied to the dock in the marina at his home.

He said the boat’s fuel tanks had leaks in them, so there was no fuel in the boat, except for a small amount in the vent lines. Also the engine was being worked on, so it had been completely drained of oil.

The Coast Guard received two notifications on Saturday. A good Samaritan first reported smelling fuel in the area and saw black spots of oil in the canal from an unknown source.

A resident also reported a sunken vessel was leaking fuel into the canal.

Hawaii Kai Marina Patrol responded by using an absorbent boom to control the spread of the discharge.

Thompson’s insurance company hired Sea Engineering Inc., which performed a major cleanup on Sunday afternoon, he said, adding they used absorbent pads, and 95 percent of the pads put out are pure white.

Thompson said the previous owner ran a dive charter business, asked to dock the boat for him a few years ago, but he died suddenly and his sister didn’t know what to do with the boat, so Thompson bought it to help her out.