Army divers are making progress refloating a partially sunken fishing vessel that’s been an eyesore and obstacle at Pier 16 in Honolulu Harbor since it went down Jan. 12.

“It’s not 100 percent (floated), but they are definitely making a lot of progress,” said Maj. Leslie Waddle, a spokeswoman for the 8th Theater Sustainment Command.

The 7th Engineer Dive Detachment, 130th Engineer Brigade, stepped in to help after two state Department of Transportation bid solicitations to float the 77-foot boat from 10 to 15 feet of water came in between $130,000 and $190,000 — amounts a lot higher than expected, officials said.

Army divers have worked with state and local governments for underwater maintenance projects, and in this case were requested by the DOT Harbors Division, the service said.

The dive detachment, which saw the mostly sunken vessel as a training opportunity, performed an initial examination of the fiberglass-and-wood boat over two days in late June and early July.

“It’s fantastic training” that is “mutually beneficial for the Army and the state,” detachment commander Capt. Troy Davidson said at the time.

An Army diver said the boat appeared to be intact, but the dive detachment couldn’t return to the Judy K until earlier this month because of other mission requirements. An update on the progress is planned for Wednesday.

A news release sent out by the Army on Monday said divers are scheduled to work with the DOT to clear the harbor berth by lifting the vessel and moving it to a ship salvage at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

The return exercise began Sept. 8, and on Monday, Army divers were in the water with huge orange float bags and smaller beige bags surrounding the partially raised ship.

When the Judy K sank, it spilled an estimated 150 gallons of diesel fuel into Honolulu Harbor. The owner was believed to be dead, so the state was left to deal with the sunken boat.

Although state officials said the vessel no longer was a threat to the environment, Darrell T. Young, DOT harbors deputy director, stressed to the Army during the earlier training iteration the importance of Honolulu Harbor.

“Eighty percent of goods are imported to Hawaii, and of that 80 percent, 99 percent of that comes through this harbor,” Young said in an Army-produced news story.

The Army earlier said it was told by the state that the Judy K had been abandoned eight years earlier, but some said it was even longer than that, with the vessel used as a fisherman’s drinking and gambling hangout.

Environmental activist Carroll Cox in late June said the boat was abandoned in Kewalo Basin for years before appearing at Pier 16. Cox cited a U.S. Customs and Border Protection letter that he said went out in mid-December — a month before the Judy K sank — warning that activity on the vessel “appears to be getting out of hand.”

"We have discussed this problem with harbor police, and they also have encountered problems with foreign crewmen ‘partying’ on this vessel, more specifically the crewmen found drinking and becoming disorderly,” Cox reported the letter saying.

The Judy K, built in 1979 with a gross tonnage of 83 tons, was listed as belonging to a company known as Sapphire USA Inc. But the company’s business registration expired in 1999, according to state records.

The Coast Guard and Harbors Division responded to the diesel spill after the boat was reported sinking Jan. 11. No fishing equipment was aboard. About 150 feet of boom and absorbent pads was put in place to contain and collect fuel from the vessel.