During the last weekend, the Hawaii-based cruise ship Pride of America made a notable visit to Port Pearl Harbor's drydock for a routine inspection at the Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility.
Although such visits are infrequent, they are feasible. While US Navy vessels typically receive precedence at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard (port locode USPEA), a scheduling opportunity allowed the NCL-Norwegian Cruise Line ship, Pride of America, to undergo a routine 2-day survey locally. This approach was more favorable than traveling thousands of miles to the West Coast USA, which could have negatively impacted the local economy and disrupted NCL's operational timeline. Conducting the inspection locally also contributes to the thriving ship repair industry.
NCL collaborated with Pacific Shipyards International (PSI) for this inspection at Dry Dock #4, with PSI serving as the prime contractor overseeing the dry-docking operations. This partnership was made feasible through a Public-Private Partnership Agreement, utilizing the temporary availability of a government facility.
The vessel entered drydock on Friday afternoon, April 26st, underwent inspection on Saturday, and was back afloat early Sunday morning, completing the work 1.5 hours ahead of schedule.