After several towing attempts and a fuel leak over the past two weeks, the luxury yacht Nakoa is now at the bottom of the channel between Molokai and Maui.

Officials from the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources announced Sunday evening that the yacht was scuttled at sea after taking on water.

It was pulled free by a tractor tug earlier that afternoon, but had been listing starboard, then sunk, with only its bow visible above the water a few miles offshore.

It is estimated to be resting about 800 feet deep, with no plans to bring it back up, officials said.

The 94-foot, 120-ton luxury yacht was finally pulled free after a third attempt Sunday. The original plan was to tow it back to Honolulu, according to officials.

The Nakoa first ran aground on President’s Day in February on a reef at Honolua Bay, just outside of the Honolua-Mokule‘ia Marine Life Conservation District on the northwestern coast of Maui, after slipping loose from a mooring.

The vessel belongs to Jim Jones, who runs Noelani Yacht Charters LLC, which business registration records show runs luxury yacht charters from a Honolulu address.

A business website advertises packages for chartered tours aboard Nakoa starting at $9,801.04 from Maui.

Dawn Chang, DLNR Chair, said this morning on “Spotlight Hawaii” that the department was working with the state attorney general’s office to fully investigate the situation and to hold the owner or owners accountable for the incident.

She said the owner was not authorized to be at Honolua Bay, nor to tie up to the mooring there.

At least 20 coral species have been impacted, she said, based on a DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources survey assessment prior to the vessel’s removal.

“We are going to utilize all of our resources to hold he and whoever owns that vessel accountable for all damages and all resources that were spent to take this action,” she said, “including the salvage crew, including administrative costs, including damages to the coral reef.”

DLNR said in a news release that DAR team would return for a post-incident damage assessment of the site.