A World War II-era tugboat is somewhere on the Pacific Ocean headed for New Orleans and, eventually, for the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum in North Little Rock, a museum board member said Monday afternoon.
The USS Hoga -- a National Historic Landmark for its crew's firefighting and rescue work during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor -- left San Diego over the weekend, said Bob Major, a board member and executive director of the North Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau.
A campaign to have the Hoga moved to North Little Rock has been ongoing for 10 years, since the city obtained title to the boat. The goal is to have it at the Maritime Museum in time for a Dec. 7 Pearl Harbor Day observance, officials have said for months.
"Everything is starting to come together finally," Major said Monday.
The boat is being transported on a cradle on a cargo ship -- a dry tow, it's called -- and will pass through the Panama Canal on its way to New Orleans. From New Orleans the boat will be taken up the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers tied alongside a another boat -- called a hip tow.
The previously estimated time of about 45 days for the transport to New Orleans was likely greatly overestimated, Major said Monday. Depending on the time it takes to get through the Panama Canal, the Hoga could reach New Orleans before the end of this month, he said.
"At one time we were under that impression," Major said of the 45-day estimate. "It's all a guesstimate right now. Once it gets through the canal we'll have a better estimate. [Monday] there were 321 ships waiting to get through the canal, and she's not there yet."
"All indications are we'll have it here before Dec. 7," he said.
The Maritime Museum received final approval from the Pentagon in late August to allow the Hoga to be moved from Mare Island near San Francisco to San Diego, where it could better find a tow opportunity on a cargo ship that was already scheduled to make a trip to New Orleans.
North Little Rock gained title to the Hoga in 2005 in a competition with other cities to preserve the historic boat. Once in the city, the Hoga will join the World War II submarine Razorback at the Maritime Museum, located on the Arkansas River on the east side of the Main Street Bridge connecting Little Rock and North Little Rock.
Metro on 10/13/2015