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Lawsuit over beached shipwreck expected to go the jury this week
ORTLAND, Ore. — What’s left of the wreck of the New Carissa could finally be removed from the Oregon coast if the state wins a lawsuit expected to go to jury this week.
The state has accused the ship’s owners of trespass. It wants $20 million to cover the cost of removing the 1,500-ton stern and an unspecified amount to cover damage to the beach caused by the 1999 wreck during a winter storm.
Lawyers for both sides are scheduled to deliver their summations Tuesday in a Coquille courtroom before Circuit Judge Richard Barron.
“This is going to make the difference between whether the stern stays on the beach or is removed from the beach,” said Kevin Neely, a spokesman for state Attorney General Hardy Myers. “If the state prevails, the wreck is gone.”
But the complex lawsuit could also have larger ramifications.
The state has argued that the owners of the New Carissa were negligent in allowing the ship to run aground. A ruling favoring the state could influence the outcome of the federal government’s effort to collect compensation from the New Carissa’s owners for environmental damage.
The state’s lawsuit also could affect the outcome of a federal lawsuit the ship’s owners have filed, claiming that navigation charts were defective. The owners are seeking $97 million.
