The Cerro Colorado
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 29 June 1992 |
| Date | 29 June 1992 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Admiralty) |
Admiralty Court of the Queen's Bench Division
Before Mr Justice Sheen
Shipping - Admiralty Court sale order - interference is contempt
An order by the Admiralty Court that a vessel be appraised and sold by the Admiralty Marshal meant that the ship would be sold free of all encumbrances and liens and it was a contempt of court to interfere with the sale in an advertisement or otherwise stating that any buyer of the vessel would be responsible for moneys owing to the crew.
Mr Justice Sheen so held in the Admiralty Court of the Queen's Bench Division in an application by the Admiralty Marshal for further directions relating to the sale of the tanker, the Cerro Colorado.
Mr Nigel Teare, QC, for the Admiralty Marshal; Mr Angus Glennie, QC, for the plaintiffs, the Norske Bank A/S.
MR JUSTICE SHEEN said that the plaintiff bank had lent a substantial sum of money to the owners of the Cerro Colorado which was secured by mortgage upon the ship. On April 13, 1992 the court gave judgment for the bank for US$26,014,308.89. In execution of the judgment, the court ordered that the vessel be appraised and sold by the Admiralty Marshal.
On March 6, 1992, the master and crew, through their unions, requested the entry of a caveat against the release of the ship claiming a right in action in rem against the ship for wages unpaid since January 1, 1992 and for severance pay amounting to US$3,000,000 plus interest and costs.
However, the master and crew had not issued a writ in rem and until they obtained a judgment in rem had no right enforceable against the ship or against the proceeds of sale.
On June 10, Lloyd's List published an advertisement referring to the forthcoming sale of the Cerro Colorado which stated that the sale was opposed by the Spanish trade unions and that the vessel was encumbered by a judgment of the Spanish courts awarding the workers 700 million pesetas which was a privilege rank debt and the enforcement of which would remain prevailing notwithstanding any sale.
On the following day on the front page of Lloyd's List there was an article by the paper's industrial correspondent headed "Tanker sale warning". The effect of the article would be to deter purchasers and reduce the price of the vessel.
Because of those publications the Admiralty Marshal had had to postpone the date for offers. It was costing about £10,000 a week to keep the ship under arrest.
The Spanish Embassy had sent a note verbale...
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The ‘Turtle Bay’
...140 FTR 271 (folld) Bank of Scotland plc v The Owners of the MV ‘Union Gold’[2013] EWHC 1696 (Admlty) (folld) Cerro Colorado, The [1993] 1 Lloyd's Rep 58 (folld) Convenience Container, The [2007] 3 HKLRD 575 (refd) Den Norske Bank ASA v Owners of the ship ‘Margo L’ [1997] HKEC 767 (folld) H......
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Elinoil-Hellenic Petroleum Co SA v Wee Ramayah & Partners
... ... Any act which interferes with the authority given to the Admiralty Marshal by an order of court may be regarded as contempt of court: The Cerro Colorado [1993] 1 Lloyd`s Rep 58 ... WRP also relied upon The Jarvis Brake [1976] 2 Lloyd`s Rep 320 ... In that case, after an order was made for ... ...
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(1) Bank of Scotland Plc v The Owners of the M/v "union Gold" (2) Bank of Scotland Plc The Owners of the M/v "union Silver" (3) Bank of Scotland Plc The Owners of the M/v "union Emerald" (4) Bank of Scotland Plc The Owners of the M/v "union Pluto"
...country will recognise sales by competent courts of admiralty in other jurisdictions; see the Acrux [1962] 1 Lloyd's rep. 405 and the Cerro Colorado [1993] 1 Lloyd's Rep. 58. It is therefore important that the reputation of the Admiralty Court for impartiality is not tarnished; see the Halc......
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Purcell Bros Limited v The Owners, Charterers and all persons claiming to be interested in the Motor Vessel Star Viking (No. 3)
...sales by competent courts of admiralty in other jurisdictions; see the Acrux [1962[ 1 Lloyd's rep. 405 and the Cerro Colorado [1993] 1 Lloyd's Rep. 58. It is therefore important that the reputation of the Admiralty Court for impartiality is not tarnished; see the Halcyon The Great (No.2) 19......
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JUDICIAL SALE OF ARRESTED VESSELS
...[2014] 2 SLR 646 at [8]. See also The Tremont (1841) 1 Wm Rob 163; The Acrux [1962] 1 Lloyd's Rep 405 at 409; and The Cerro Colorado [1993] 1 Lloyd's Rep 58 at 60 and 61. 25 The Bold Buccleugh (1851) 7 Moo PC 267. See also Toh Kian Sing SC, Admiralty Law and Practice (LexisNexis, 3rd Ed, 20......