The island of Ofu is in the Manua Island group of American Samoa, located about 60 miles east of Tutuila. The project was authorized in March 1973 under Section 107 of the River and Harbor Act of 1960, as amended. The local sponsor is the American Samoa Government. The project is in the operations and maintenance phase.
The harbor was completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1975 at a cost of $1,041,971 (Federal: $980,018; non-Federal: $51,953). The completed project consists of a revetment and breakwater 610 feet long; a 220-foot-long entrance channel, 18 feet deep and 130 feet wide; a turning basin 16 feet deep and appurtenant aids to navigation. As a result from damage and sediment deposits from Cyclone Heta in 2004, Ofu Harbor’s breakwater was repaired and channel dredged in 2008 at a cost of $1,070,666.
The Ofu Harbor was the first harbor constructed in American Samoa by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under its civil works program to improve the territory’s interisland transportation system.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for maintaining the project structures and project depths in the entrance channel and turning basin area. The last dredging event was conducted in 2008.