The hope that Port Orchard Marina’s diesel fuel tank could be fixed in less than a week did not last long, as inspections last week revealed it will most likely need to be replaced.

“There are more serious problems than we originally thought,” said director Steve Slaton, explaining that a repair crew determined the tank is damaged. “We probably will have to replace the tank.”

The marina’s diesel tank has been out of commission most of this month after Slaton said an alarm set between the tank’s inner and outer walls alerted his staff to the leak.

At the time, Slaton said he knew “there is some leakage there, but there’s no sign so far that any of it leaked into the ground.”

Last week, Slaton said with the repair company scheduled to arrive Tuesday, chances were good that the tank could be repaired in in “three to five days.”

But now that estimate is very different.

“It will be a major project,” Slaton said, explaining that he will have to collect bids on the work before any repairs can begin. “It will take a significant amount of time, and a significant amount of money.”

In the meantime, Slaton said the marina’s gasoline tank is fine, and since most of the Chris-Craft boats run on gasoline, their Rendezvous scheduled for the end of this month should not be affected that much.

However, the marina is losing out on diesel sales.

“We sell quite a lot of diesel,” he said, explaining that the marina was serving both commercial and pleasure boats. “A lot of people that normally buy diesel from us will be frustrated.”

With the PO marina unable to sell diesel, Slaton said boats needing that fuel — such as those from Kitsap Transit or Safe Boats International — have been heading up to the Port of Brownsville near Silverdale.

“I told them, ‘Make sure you have plenty of diesel, because they’ll be coming up there,’ ” Slaton said, explaining that the ports have a very cooperative relationship. “In fact, I was able to sell them the rest of the diesel in our tank, so that wasn’t a loss.”

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