The channel to Lahaina Harbor was closed for about two hours yesterday after a tour boat carrying 62 people ran aground and blocked the channel. No injuries were reported.

The 65-foot catamaran Ocean Discovery made a distress call at 8:10 a.m., and reported the vessel had run aground 50 yards offshore in Lahaina Harbor.

Rescue crews from the Coast Guard Cutter Ahi and Coast Guard Station Maui provided a safety zone around the vessel as passengers were transferred into another tour boat in the area called the Blue Dolphin. A Coast Guard rescue helicopter crew from Barbers Point also monitored the transfer.

All of the Ocean Discovery's passengers and crew were moved in groups of about 20 back to the pier until everyone was safely ashore, Coast Guard officials said.

The Ocean Discovery, an ecotour boat from the Pacific Whale Foundation, was assessed for damage, then towed into Lahaina by another Good Samaritan vessel, according to the Coast Guard.

The channel was reopened before 11 a.m., and there was no report of any oil spill or other pollution, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard will investigate the grounding.