And in another development, the state Aquarium president has proposed a joint ticketing arrangement that would bring Aquarium tourists to the battleship if it ends up in Camden.

The Aquarium attracts about 500,000 visitors a year.

"We are committed to providing a cooperative environment to ensure that the USS New Jersey will both prosper and receive the number of visitors she deserves," said Michael I. Crowther, Aquarium president and CEO.

Crowther said his staff also could explore cooperative marketing to attract visitors to the ship.

Commission Vice Chairman Thomas Gorman called the Aquarium offer "positive."

"You need to have good, sound marketing techniques, and it's always good to have multiple attractions," he said.

The second - and unannounced - Camden visit on Friday was to get answers to engineering and safety questions, said the commission's chairman, Assemblyman Joseph Azzolina, R-Monmouth. Resolving those questions would be necessary if the commission recommends Camden as the battleship's home.

Twelve of the 14 commissioners attended a lavish July 31 public presentation in Camden. Only four, including Azzolina, attended the return trip.

"It was very informative. That's all I want to say now," Azzolina said Wednesday.

The commissioners spent several hours at a private meeting in the Harbour League Club with Hudson Engineers of Camden. They then took a land tour of the proposed Waterfront site, between the north end of the Beckett Street Marine Terminal of the South Jersey Port Corp. and the Sony Entertainment Centre at the southern end of Wiggins Waterfront Park and marina.

At the meeting, engineers presented a slightly revised position for the ship in the Delaware River, moving it closer to shore and widening and lengthening to 170 feet a T-shaped walkway and pier that could handle emergency vehicles.