Friday, Aug. 22, 3:53 p.m., By Susan Chambers, staff writer

The New Carissa was rockin’ pretty good on Thursday.

So was the Karlissa A barge.

Since several tons have been removed from the shipwrecked hull of the Carissa, and Titan Salvage crews have pulled it farther out of the water, it’s ever more vulnerable to the whims of the ocean.

And on Wednesday and Thursday, those whims — in the form of 10- to 12-foot waves — were pushing the ship around. Heavy anchor chains, repositioned by salvors on Wednesday, kept the Carissa from drifting far from the sand plug of sand on which it is stuck. But those same chains transferred some of the energy from the rocking ship to the barge.

Yikes! The barge swayed. It moved.

It didn’t seem possible that the jack-up barge, as big and sturdy as it is, would be affected. I can only describe it as kind of eerie.

Many of the salvors had the day off Thursday thanks to the storm. Working on the wreck would have been too dangerous in those conditions. It was the first day off some of the Titan crew has had in months — several took care of business in town, relaxed at the motel or explored the area around Coos Bay.

At the same time, Titan Managing Director David Parrot took two groups of visitors out to the barges. Titan engineers Hank Bergman and Paul Hansen also made the trip, checking to see that the jacks were holding the barges level and steady.

Anyone who enjoys the waves crashing at Shore Acres State Park during the winter would have enjoyed watching the waves crash against the Carissa. Water shoots hundreds of feet into the air at Shore Acres when the swells hit 20-plus feet. At the Carissa, waves careened off the bottom of hull and 50 feet into the air, clear to the deck of the Karlissa A barge.

It was indeed a sight to see.

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Wednesday, Aug. 20, 12:25 p.m., By Susan Chambers, staff writer



The tar chunks are gone.

A beach crew has closely monitored the 160 or so yards or so of beach closed intermittently to foot and vehicle traffic near the New Carissa since tar chunks started showing up late last week.

“There’s absolutely no trace of contamination as of this morning at 8 a.m.,” said Calum Stevenson, the Oregon State Parks ocean shores and scenic waterways coordinator for the South Coast.

So, they've re-opened that area.

Stevenson worked closely with NRC Environmental Services’ Randy Henry to ensure the beach environment was safe. Six people from NRC scooped up tar balls and chunks all weekend. By Monday, only two workers remained and Henry sent those two home today.

Henry will continue to monitor the beach, though.

“What there is coming is almost normal,” he said. “I think we’re seeing the last of it.”

Tar balls from other wrecks or incidents frequently turn up on the beach. It’s impossible to tell, without further testing, what wrecks they belong to or from where they came. What made Friday’s tar chunks different was that some left an oily sheen in the water and were more indicative of chunks that would be from the New Carissa.

Stevenson said State Parks will continue to have rangers on the beach to answer questions from the public.