The Port Gisborne company is being sued over the grounding of the Jody F Millennium last year.
Japanese company Twin Bright Shipping, owners of the log carrier, and its parent company Soki Kissen Co, are suing the port and the Gisborne District Council for about $23 million.
The Jody was stranded for18 days after running aground while leaving Gisborne harbour in a severe storm on February 6 last year.
Port chairman John Clarke would not discuss the details of the lawsuit yesterday.
The company planned to defend the suit, which he said was for about $23 million after exchange rates were taken into account.
While aground on the sandbank the Jody developed several cracks in its hull before being towed off by three tugs.
Tonnes of fuel oil leaked into the surrounding sea and was washed up on the beach before what remained in the ship's lower tanks was pumped into barges or into higher ballast tanks above the waterline.
The Maritime Safety Authority then claimed the costs of the rescue operation and cleanup from the Jody's owners.
The chief executive of Gisborne District Council, Bob Elliott, said the council, a secondary defendant in the lawsuit, was already preparing its defence.
"They are claiming the port wasn't effectively operated and there wasn't sufficient regard to the conditions at the port," he said.
"When the Jody left, it effectively bottomed out because the channel wasn't, in their view, deep enough. And so it ended up on the beach."
One of the issues will be deciding who is responsible for choosing to leave port in a storm.
