Pearl Harbor's USS Arizona Memorial suspends boat tours

Boat tours of the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor have been suspended as work is done to repair a dock at the site.

National Park Service staff were alerted to an issue with the shoreside dock on Dec. 12. After an assessment was completed, work to repair the dock began Dec. 15. Navy personnel decided to remove the damaged dock ramp via crane and repair it at an off-site facility, according to an NPS statement.

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While the repairs are being completed, public programs via the U.S. Navy white boats to the USS Arizona Memorial have been suspended. After the dock is fixed, it will be reinstalled, and the Navy will conduct stress tests to ensure its safety.

Operations will resume when National Park Service personnel deem conditions safe enough for the white boats to use the shoreside dock, but a timeline has yet to be announced by the National Park Service.

This is the third time in four years that the boat tours of the USS Arizona Memorial, which honors the more than 1,000 crew members who perished in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, have been suspended due to dock issues. In 2018 tours halted for 15 months as a $2.1 million repair was completed. Tours were suspended again in September for emergency repairs that lasted two weeks.

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The Pearl Harbor Visitor Center grounds, museums and park film (on the open-air patio)  remain accessible. Visitors can also still participate in the Pacific Historic Parks Audio Tour, Virtual Reality Center, and visit The Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum, Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, and the Battleship Missouri Memorial located at the site.

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