The MV Manu’atele should be on its way home next month, after repairs at the Marisco Shipyard in Honolulu.
Vice Speaker Fetu Fetui asked about the status of the Manu’atele during the budget hearing for Port Administration yesterday.
Port Director Taimalelagi Dr Claire Poumele said repairs for the vessel should be completed next month then it will sail back to the territory. 
The repairs are for damages that the vessel suffered when it rammed into the Ofu dock during heavy weather in January.
It sailed to Honolulu in June but there were delays in starting the repairs due to COVID-19 restrictions.
In a follow up interview, the Port Director told KHJ News that repairs are 50% completed and she expected them to be done by the end of October,
Nine crew members which sailed the Manu’atele to Hawaii remain in Honolulu.
They are living in an apartment and go to the shipyard daily to check on the repairs, according to Taimalelelagi.
The Department of Interior has re-directed $1.6 million in Capital Improvement Project funds for repairs for the vessel.
