The 75-foot sailing vessel Hawaii Aloha, which ran aground Jan. 3 off Kona, caused limited damage to coral reefs, but vessel owners using temporary state moorings are now being required to have insurance in the event they run aground, according to the state Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation.

The 84-ton cement vessel ran aground off Hualalai on Hawaii island’s Kona coast during a storm. There were five people aboard, including Aaron Bremner whose body was never found. Bremner had moved to Kona about 15 months ago to join Youth With a Mission Ships Kona, a Christian missionary group, and become a full-time volunteer crew member. The search for him was called off Jan. 6.

Bremner helped sail the Hawaii Aloha back to Hawaii from Micronesia about three months ago and was preparing to embark on the vessel’s two-year mission to Christmas Island, Micronesia and Australia.

"We are saddened that one man was lost at sea when the Hawaii Alohagrounded during the storm," said division administrator Ed Underwood.

"To protect state of Hawaii taxpayers, we want to be sure that all vessels temporarily mooring in Hawaii waters have adequate coverage to cover incidents like this grounding."

The Hawaii Aloha was removed last weekend. Salvage and debris removal work was conducted by Sea Engineering Inc. under a $150,000 contract from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

"The good news is this boat grounded on a bench area, so we didn’t expect to see any catastrophic damage to coral reef environments," said Bill Walsh, Division of Aquatic Resources aquatic biologist for West Hawaii. "We did see some broken coral heads, but it’s impossible to determine whether the boat caused this damage or they were impacted by the storm that resulted in the boat’s grounding."

The state team did find debris scattered on the ocean floor, including relatively small pieces of fiberglass, cloth, eating and cooking utensils, and a few personal items. DLNR will follow up on the removal of debris, but hazardous medical waste was removed by non-DLNR divers shortly after the grounding.

The assessment of the area offshore of the grounding was completed Tuesday.

The state funded the cost of the salvage work as the insurance covering the Hawaii Aloha did not cover wreck removal.

This prompted the state land department to institute a new policy requiring vessels using temporary state moorings to show proof of adequate insurance coverage in the event of an accident or grounding.

Underwood announced the new policy Friday during a news conference at state offices at the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor.

Some 100 to 150 vessels have temporary state moorings inside and outside harbors in Hawaii.

The temporary moorings require the issuance of a permit every 30 days and are good for one location up to 120 days.