The saga of the Port of Coupeville’s dilapidated fuels floats continues.

The brackets on one of the two recently repaired fuel floats broke during a severe storm last week. The floats are located at the end of the Coupeville Wharf and, during the slow winter months, are used by Penn Cove Shellfish to refuel its fleet.

Jim Patton, Port of Coupeville executive director, said the new bracket on the western fuel float, which receives the brunt of the severe weather in Penn Cove, broke and sank during heavy weather.

The wharf’s harbormaster chained the float to the wharf to prevent it from drifting away. Patton said he is talking with the company that made the repairs, Northwest Docks in Anacortes, to come up with a solution. The company recently replaced the brackets on both floats.

The floats are insured and the port paid a $1,000 deductible for its share of the repairs. Patton said the recent round of repairs would have cost approximately $20,000 without insurance.

The Port of Coupeville will seek requests for proposals to design new fuel floats. He said the lack of a breakwater could prove challenging to designers. Once the design is complete, the port will look for bids from companies to build the new floats.