COOS BAY, Ore. -- The remains of the New Carissa may finally be leaving Oregon this summer, officials said.

The freighter ran aground north of Coos Bay in February 1999, and part of it remains stuck in the sand.

Now, a crew with an approved plan to remove it is setting up shop.

When works starts next month, these two big barges will be secured next to the wreckage of the stern, and a cable car will connect to the construction platform on top of the dune.

"Probably the most difficult part is just getting the barges into position. We need good weather," engineering director Phil Reed said.

As an engineering challenge, the man in charge said removing the wreck is an eight on a scale of 10.

Even good four-wheel-drive rigs can get stuck in the sandy access road.

Working in the surf is dangerous. So is boarding the sloping stern by helicopter.

It’s been a long, strange trip for the New Carissa to this point.

The New Carissa ran onto the beach on Feb. 4, 1999. Several days later, its fuel tanks begin to leak, fouling the beach.

So crews burned the fuel to stop it from leaking out and doing more environmental damage.

The plan to burn off the fuel weakened the ship causing it to break apart.

Freeing the forward section and towing it to sea went awry when the tow line broke.

It was recaptured off Waldport, towed out to sea, punctured with gunfire and torpedoed causing it to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

But the stern’s still sitting just off the beach near Coos Bay.

"It probably does need to come out, but it'll be kind of emotional to see it go," visitor Alice Griffith said.

A flurry of lawsuits included a $25 million payment by the ship’s Japanese owners to the state for damage and removal. Some of that money’s paying Titan Maritime to do the job.

Working from barges that will be fitted at a Coos Bay dock, crews transported by cable car will cut up the ship, haul pieces up to the barges with 3-inch diameter chain and eventually bring it all back to Coos Bay by barge.

"It’s the safest way, the most weather independent method we could come up with to get people back and forth," Reed said.

The big show on the north spit of Coos Bay this summer will be the removal of the wreckage.

"There’s a couple of spots where we can get onto the beach, work our way under the wires, see the work on the hill and on the ship," tour director Rich Burkholder said.

Plan Launched To Finally Remove New Carissa