Fuel dock at Lahaina Small Boat Harbor reopens

The Lahaina Small Boat Harbor fuel dock will be reopened for business today, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources said.

According to the DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) and Pacific West Fuels, DOBOR’s fuel vendor at the harbor, this is “welcome news for area boaters and marks a significant milestone in the town’s restoration process.”

Commenting the latest news, Gary Strutz, president of Pacific West Fuels said: “The DLNR asked me last November if we planned to rebuild and if so, when? We had a difficult decision to make. Emotionally we wanted to rebuild our business of over 30 years, but logically we had to consider that over 80% of our customers’ boats burned and it would be two years or more before the harbor was fully rebuilt.”

This fuel dock is just one of many construction projects that are planned to restore the harbor.

DLNR said that the removal of damaged piles and anchors has also been completed.

Other practical improvements include:

• Dredging (including harbor basin and entrance channel, pending legislative funding)
• Reconstruction of the inner marginal wharf (new dock materials already on hand, more legislative funding needed to complete)
• Replacement of front row piers (main area for commercial operators, design and permitting underway), etc.