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Boat tours past the USS Arizona Memorial to resume Friday

William Cole
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WILLIAM COLE / WCOLE@STARADVERTISER.COM

Navy divers worked on the sunken USS Arizona Memorial visitor center dock Tuesday to try to get it refloated. It has since been repaired.

Boat tours of Pearl Harbor’s former Battleship Row will be reinstated Friday morning by the National Park Service following a five-day stop after the floating shoreside dock sank at the USS Arizona Memorial visitor center last Saturday.

The repairs were completed thanks to the “outstanding support” of Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard divers, Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 1, Port Operations and Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii, the park service said.

Visitors will continue to see a 25-minute documentary film, followed by transfer to Navy boats for the harbor tour, which transits in close proximity to the USS Arizona Memorial.

Visitors normally have the opportunity to get off the boat on the walkway memorial that extends over the sunken Arizona, but walk-on access was curtailed as of May 10 to address a faulty anchoring system on the concrete floating dock that’s attached to the memorial.

Live or recorded commentary during the harbor boat tours will resume as well “to enhance our visitors’ experience to the greatest extent possible,” the park service said.

On some windy days, when the water becomes extra choppy, the park service and Navy halt the boat tours.

“All other amenities at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center remain open and accessible,” the park service said. “Visitors are encouraged to visit our two free museums, shoreside exhibits, snack shop, and bookstore. Our partners at the Battleship Missouri Memorial, the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, and Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum remain open and ready to welcome visitors.”

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