Digital Extra

The deadline for filing claims against Eklof Marine Corp., the owner of the North Cape and the tug, Scandia, has been extended until March, Chris Shaban, a spokesman for Attorney General Jeffrey B. Pine, said yesterday.

But where the claims will be heard, New York or Rhode Island, has not been decided, Shaban said.

Eklof obtained a court order in July stipulating that all future claims against the company be filed in federal court in New York. But Pine's office has asked that the court order be vacated and the case moved to Rhode Island, where most of the damaged parties live.

"The issue of venue is pending and will be decided by a New York judge," Shaban said.

In addition to favoring Eklof on the issue of venue, the July court order set a deadline of Sept. 27 for filing claims and drastically reduced the amount of money Eklof and its related companies would have to pay to the thousands of fishermen and others hurt by the Jan. 19 spill.

More than 800,000 gallons of fuel oil spilled into Block Island Sound when the North Cape ran aground at Moonstone Beach. The immediate damage to the environment was extensive; at least a million lobsters were killed and 250 square miles of Block Island Sound were closed to fishing for several weeks.

The order approved by U.S. District Court Judge Loretta A. Preska took Rhode Island officials by surprise. The chief of Pine's environmental unit, Michael Rubin, learned of it about a month after it happened. Rubin flew to New York and persuaded a second judge to extend the filing deadline until today. The deadline was then further extended until March, but the exact date could not be determined yesterday.

The extension is important because many fishermen have been waiting to see how much their catches are off before filing their claims, officials have said.

Meanwhile, a federal grand jury is continuing its investigation into the oil spill.

The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the accident, which was Rhode Island's worst oil spill.