Arizona Memorial to remain closed for repairs to sinking dock

The USS Arizona Memorial is closed for the rest of the week due to the submersion of the shoreside floating dock where visitors board vessels for harbor tours, according to the National Park Service.

In addition, all USS Arizona Memorial programs have been canceled through Oct. 6, according to a phone recording and messages posted on the World Ward II Valor in the Pacific National Monument’s official Twitter and Facebook pages. Harbor tours were halted Sunday after the 180-foot long concrete dock sank partially overnight, according to officials.

Based on initial assessments, NPS spokesman Jay Blount said repairs are estimated to take about a week.

While crews have been pumping out the chambers of the dock, he said it remains unknown what kind of damage is causing them to sink.

”If they’re able to patch the leak relatively quickly, we could be operational again in a matter of days,” said Blount. “We have no real way of knowing until we get people looking at it in the water.”

The Pearl Harbor Visitor Center remains open its usual hours from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, along with its two museums, shoreside exhibits and book store.

Visitors to Pearl Harbor can still watch a free, documentary film, according to Blount, as well as visit with on-site park rangers and volunteers offering interpretive talks and the book store.

The memorial’s partners, the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park, USS Battleship Missouri Memorial, and Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor also remain open.