The owner of a luxury yacht that reportedly caused extensive damage to coral colonies when it dropped anchor off Kona in October 2018 has reached a $100,000 settlement with the state.

The state Board of Land and Natural Resources on Friday approved a settlement agreement with Formosa Wealth Management Group, owner of the 197-foot vessel, after a staff report indicated that prosecution could prove difficult because it operates under a foreign flag.

Under the settlement, Formosa agreed to pay $100,000 to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) to be used for supporting coral reef management and restoration in West Hawaii, said program manager David Sakoda. “We want to make sure those resources are protected.”

DAR said the yacht damaged 431 stony coral colonies and approximately 150 square feet of live rock when it dropped anchor in the Kailua Bay Zone of the Kona Coast Fisheries Management Area on the morning of Oct. 2, 2018.

Employees of Big Island Watersports noticed the yacht’s anchor was not properly set, DLNR said. Employees of the Atlantis Submarine also witnessed and documented damage to coral caused by the yacht’s anchor chain, according to aquatic resources officials. Later that day, the yacht moved to deeper water and anchored in the sand.

A team of biologists, contractors and technicians from DAR surveyed the yacht’s anchoring sites and took photos of the damage, which included large coral colonies broken at the base and overturned; chunks of coral dislodged from live coral colonies and lying nearby; and shattered finger coral (Porites compressa).

Stony coral species that were affected included yellow mound coral (Porites lobata), finger coral, smooth mound coral (Porites evermanni), plate-and-pillar coral (Porites rus), rice coral (Genus Montipora), and live rock. DLNR said total damage to all stony coral species covered an area of 11,294 square feet.

After they completed their assessment, the team undertook three dives to stabilize more than 50 affected large coral colonies and 250 coral fragments in the surrounding reef, DLNR said.

In a news release, DAR aquatic biologist Nikki Smith in Kona described damage to the finger coral bed as “quite extensive,” noting a lot of the damage was caused by the chain “swinging through the bed.”

Formosa is a luxury yacht operated as a vacation charter in the South Pacific, Pacific, Indian Ocean and Asia. Formosa Wealth Management Group could not be reached for comment.

Sakoda said coral reefs are already facing stress from coral bleaching caused by warmer ocean temperatures, invasive species, land-based sources of pollution and depleted fish populations in some areas.