The Navy yesterday said repairs to the damaged cruiser USS Port Royal are expected to cost $25 million to $40 million as a result of a 3 1/2-day grounding off the Honolulu airport reef runway.

A statement from the U.S. Pacific Fleet said a majority of the damage assessment has been done.

The actual cost will depend on what the damage assessment reveals as well as public shipyard and private shipyard labor and material costs, the Navy said.

Costs identified in the preliminary estimate include repairing or replacing the ship's sonar dome and transducers (if required), refurbishment of the two propulsion shafts, which still have to be removed, rotated and fully inspected, and repainting of the underwater hull, according to the release.

The length of the repair period will be determined upon completion of the damage assessment.

"We still need to do a final structural analysis of the sonar dome, determine the number of transducers that require replacement and complete the assessment of the propulsion train to establish if there is any misalignment," said Capt. Rick Tate of Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility's Industrial Management Department.

The propeller blades, sonar dome and underwater hull were among items damaged on the 567-foot-long guided-missile cruiser. Critical systems — including the vertical launch cell hatches and other weapons systems, the Aegis radar system, ballistic missile defense capability, surface-search radar, anchors, antennae and gas-turbine engines — were not damaged, the Navy said.

The latest damage report was in contrast to recent published reports that pointed to more extensive damage.

The news yesterday also put to rest rumors that the damage was so great to the Port Royal that the $1 billion cruiser would be mothballed instead of repaired.

The ship ran aground on Feb. 5 in 17 to 22 feet of water on the first day of sea trials following $18 million in repairs and refurbishment. Many of the items fixed in the previous drydocking need to be addressed again.

The Port Royal was refloated early Feb. 9 and towed to Pearl Harbor, where it entered dry dock No. 4 on Feb. 18.

On Feb. 19, the state confirmed there was significant damage to coral reef. The state plans to submit a bill, called an admiralty claim, to the Navy for reimbursement of the cost to repair and clean up the area, said Deborah Ward, state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman.

Divers have been at the site of the grounding since Feb. 12, officials said, surveying, photographing and reattaching live coral heads with quick-set cement.

Ward yesterday said there still was no estimate of the extent of damage to the reef. "Our investigation is still ongoing," she said.

Robert Harris, director of the Sierra Club Hawai'i Chapter, said the DLNR has refused to provide any photos or video of the coral damage.

"I think our biggest frustration, to some extent, is the lack of information that's been coming out of both the DLNR and the Navy," Harris said.

Ward said in not releasing photos, "We are just acting on the advice of the attorney general. ... Preparing the (admiralty) claim, any photographs are evidence."

The ship's commander, Capt. John Carroll, was temporarily relieved of his duties.