After a weeklong delay, the USS Nimitz finally docked at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton.

The Nimitz temporarily changed its home port from Naval Base Everett to Naval Base Kitsap (NBK) to undergo routine maintenance. It is expected to be docked at the shipyard for 16 months.

The Nimitz has a crew of 2,931 and of that about 2,000 will transfer to Bremerton, according to Capt. John Ring, commanding officer of the Nimitz.

Barracks at NBK are overcrowded because two carriers are in port so about 180 sailors will live on a barge, Ring said.

“Our goal is to get those folks off the barge as quickly as possible,” Ring said.

Throughout the Nimitz’s time in Bremerton, its sailors will continue training for operations at sea. Sailors will spend time on other aircraft carriers on the West Coast to maintain their skill.

“There’s two things the sailors need: they need to be qualified to do a job; they need to proficient at doing that job,” Ring said. “They’re not going to be proficient after 16 months in the yard.”

During the stay the ship will be brought up to date.

“We’re a 40-year-old ship. Salt water and metal don’t like each other so we have a lot of repairs to do,” Ring said. “Repair and modernization are what we’re about here.”

Civilian workers with the shipyard are expected to make the bulk of the significant repairs, while sailors will be improve the ship’s “habitability.”

“The reality is we can’t afford all the work that has to get done to the ship. To save taxpayer money we have sailors do quite a bit of it,” Ring said.

Ring said there are teams set to redo tile, paint and pipe insulation, among others.

After the yard period, the ship will be inspected for combat readiness, Ring said.

Ring told his sailors to enjoy their stay in the area in their personal lives and to focus on three things in their professional lives.

“I want them to do something for the ship every day, I want them to do something to help their shipmate every day and I want them to do something for themselves every day,” Ring said. “I know that if they do those three things the yard period will end, we’ll get through this quickly, they’ll be ready to go.”

Moving home ports to Bremerton will help with productivity, Ring said, because it means his sailors won’t need to commute from Everett.

“That means I get a full work day out of them,” Ring said. “And the other side of that is a quality of life thing where they’re not trying to work a full day and commute a full day.”