The crane and legs of the Karlissa A are visible above treetops Monday afternoon, as seen from the same vantage point as the 1999 photo. In the nine years since the New Carissa ran aground, the trees on the North Spit have grown taller, blocking the view of the wreck.-World Photo by Lou Sennick

Let the introductions begin.

One half of Titan Maritime’s ship dismantling tag team — the Karlissa A — is now up close and personal with its next challenge — the hulk of the New Carissa. On Sunday, Titan towed the barge from where it was moored in Empire out to the  New Carissa wreck site in the surf of Coos Bay’s North Spit. The barge is positioned on the north side of the wreck, where crews are using pneumatic jacks to plunge its six legs into the sand underneath the surf off the North Spit. The process will take several days to complete, Titan Managing Director David Parrot said. Once in place, the barge will stand 40 feet above the water.

Then crews will connect the Karlissa A to the shore staging site tower with cable car lines. A cable car  will run crews and equipment from barge to beach each day when dismantling begins. Titan is planning to tow the second barge, the Karlissa B, in the next week. It will be jacked up on the west side of the wreck, Department of State Lands spokeswoman Julie Curtis said. Titan wants to have the first barge positioned and connected to the beach before taking the second barge out. All plans are dependent upon weather conditions, Curtis added.

The beach site is ready, with a fence around the work area and transporter tower installed on the foredune. Public access is open via a bypass road built around the site. The Department of State Lands recommends only four-wheel drive vehicles with high clearance be used on the sand road.

The Karlissas left the Coos Bay city docks late last week after Titan crews and local contractors finished preparing them for the removal of the New Carissa. They moved them to the Sause Bros. docks in Empire to await transport out to the wreck.

Titan Maritime is the Florida-based salvage company hired by the state of Oregon to cut up and remove the remaining stern section of the New Carissa. The ship ran aground in February 1999. Positioning the barges is the beginning of in-water work on the $16.4 million project, which is scheduled to be finished by Oct. 1. Titan project managers expect the dismantling should be complete well before that date, in August or September.