Personnel from the Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency will board an O‘ahu-based U.S. Coast Guard C-130 plane this evening bound for earthquake- and tsunami-ravaged American Samoa.

Their major mission is to help assess the damage and provide assistance to the port of Pago Pago, which is under the jurisdiction of Coast Guard Capt. Barry Compagnoni, who serves as captain of both the ports of Honolulu and Pago Pago, said Coast Guard Lt. John Titchen.

“Our primary focus is to ensure the port is operational,” Titchen said. “Like any other island community in the Pacific, it’s very dependent on shipping (and) the maritime industry for supplies and things like that.”

The flight will also include American Samoa Gov. Togiola Tulafono, who has been on O‘ahu for some business meetings.

The Coast Guard has a three-person Marine Safety Detachment Unit based out of Pago Pago, Titchen said. The unit’s primary mission is to conduct maritime inspections and other port regulatory operations. The team does not have any vessels, Titchen said.

Reports are that “a 10- to 15-foot wave swept through the port causing several vessels to go around, including several commercial vessels,” Titchen said. “We were able to determine there’s not a significant threat from oil spills just yet but any vessel aground with fuel aboard poses a threat.”

The Coast Guard has not yet been able to assess the structural damage caused by the earthquake, Titchen said. There is a significant tuna cannery on the island “but so far, from what we’ve seen, there’s no significant damage to the cannery or any of the refueling facilities in the port.”

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, in a release, said his agency will have on board an incident management assistance team and planning and response team that will be deployed in American Samoa.

FEMA has a distribution center in Hawai‘i and is sending out supplies as needed, Fugate said.