By Franck Alcidi -
01/11/01
In 1988 Ms Karen Eleanor Jackson, who was the Sheriff at that time, holds the honour of administering what must have been
the largest sale conducted in Australia, if not the world, under the admiralty legislation.
After arresting three bulk carriers in Darwin Harbour, she sold the ships for $US24.5M. Below are extracts from the
"Northern Territory News" and one from the England journal of the Institute of Charted Shipbrokers, "The Shipbroker", referring to the
exercise.
Extract from 'Northern Territory News' of 23 & 25 August, 1988:-
Bulk carriers sold
By LORRAIN DALE
A broker representing three Cyprus-based shipping companies paid $US24.05 million today for three 30 000 tonne bulk
carriers auctioned on behalf of the NT Supreme Court.
The Kalaparti was sold for $US8.2 million, the Adselphi for $US8.3 million and the oldest the three
ships, Acacia I for $US7.55 million.
The buyers were the Expedient Maritime Company, Rotary Shippers and Peramos.
Representatives from all over the world attended the auction at the Sheraton in Darwin, conducted for the NT Admiralty,
Sheriff by Braemar Ship Brokers of London.
The ships, belonging to the Maritime group of companies, have been in Darwin Harbour since they were arrested last
November because of ownership dispute.
 |
Dispute leads to unique sale
By LORRAINE DALE
One of the most unusual public auctions in Australia will be held in Darwin on Thursday.
Three 30 000-tonne bulk carriers, which have become a familiar sight in Darwin Harbour in the past nine
months, will be auctioned under instructions of the Northern Territory Admiralty Marshal, Ms Karen Jackson.
The three ships, Kalapati, Acacia I and Adelfa are owned by three Panamanian-registered companies of
the Maritime group.
Ms Jackson said there had been world-wide interest in the auction which will be conducted by Braemar Ship
Brokers of London at the Sheraton Hotel in Darwin at 11 am
"it is unique." she said.
"I don't think there has been a judicial auction on this scale anywhere in Australia."
A reserve price and special conditions, known to the interested parties had been set for the sale.
The sister ships were built in Brazil in 1981/82. Each of the Philippine -registered ships has a crew of 13
Filipinos.
The ships have been in Darwin Harbour since they were arrested last November after legal action brought by UK
firm, Sovereign Shipping Enterprise, which is disputing ownership.
They are being managed on behalf of the NT Supreme Court by ships agents. Acomarit of Scotland, represented in
Darwin by Captain Greg Coopley.
A Darwin lawyer representing Sovereign Shipping, Ms Judith Kelly, said the dispute was unresolved and
litigations would probably continue in the court after the sale. |
Extract from England journal of the Institute of Charted Shipbrokers, 'The Shipbrokers', Winter, 1988:-
WHEN THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THREE BULK CARRIERS EQUALLED 12,432,000 TUBES OF FOSTERS
By BILL BRAY, MICS, a director of Braemar Shipping, tells of how he brought the hammer down in Darwin
| A TYPICAL August day in the life of a shipbroker-wet and boring. The phone rings-Australia calling.
Would I be willing to act as sole broker in the disposal of three modern bulk carriers under arrest in Darwin? A great deal of thought was given
to this enquiry-all of one second to say yes!
This first call was the followed up by an official letter of appointment from Admiralty Marshal in Darwin with
instructions to advertise the sale by public auction which would take place in Darwin within a period of three weeks. From that moment on, August was anything but boring. With ships in such a remote position I
thought that we may have a problem in attracting buyers-how wrong can you be. Immediately the initial advertisement appeared, the market began
climbing with the result of a total of 63 inquiries was received from a number of well known owners and some from exotic locations and members of
the public who, let us say, had delusions of grandeur. A couple of days prior to the auction, I arrived in
Darwin and the first Australian surprise. The Admiralty Marshal turned out to be a very attractive and vivacious lady sufficient to gladden any
jaded shipbroker's heart! Later that day, I had to obtain my auctioneer's licence from the local
constabulary. This involved the visit to my room of a rather large Australian who seemed more interested in consuming tinnies than actually
assessing my suitability as an auctioneer! I must have passed the test since the papers were duly handed over. Darwin turned out to be much more than the frontier town described by colleagues. However, it is fair to say that the Institute
dinner could be held in the Main Street at 8pm and there would be no casualties. The whole of the Northern Territory is some five times |
larger than Great Britain and has a population of about 140,000.
Auction day proved quit an event. Both the Admiralty Marshal and the auctioneer admitted to certain amount of
nerves-soon to be overcome. The auction room was crowded with TV, press, public and a total of 13 bidders. Bidding on the first ship started a
little slowly but it was not long before it became a two horse race. Finally the first ship was knocked down but as I bought down the hammer a
bidder came in. However, the bid was fractionally too late and whilst the bidder protested, there was nothing to be done.
Luckily the following two ships were auctioned without further problems.
Post auction activity was rather hectic since three contracts had to be signed immediately with the buyer then
rushing off to arrange the transfer of the full purchase price within the prescribed seven days-no easy feat. At the time the TV and press people
were trying to obtain quotes and to make a story basically out of nothing.
It was interesting to see how the media handled the story. Only in Australia would a journalist compare the
purchase price to the equivalent in tubes of Fosters (12,432,000 for those collectors of meaningless statistics). This same journalist christened
some of the bidders 'Zorba the Greek' 'The man from Uncle', 'Omar Shariff's Younger Brother' and 'James Bond', and really he was not far out.
When the excitement of the auction died down, I was able to reflect that August 1988 was probably one of the
highlights of relatively long career in sale and purchase. Equally I felt a certain pride that a London broker should have been chosen to conduct
an unusual sale in an unusual place. Perhaps this confirms my belief that London can compete very effectively with other centres and continues to
be the major force in shipbroking. |
Ms Karen Jackson also has the honour of being the first female to be appointed Sheriff of a State or Territory in
Australia. In 1992 Ms Jackson exercised her authority as Sheriff to obtain 3 Jurors off the street to help in a criminal trial which was being conducted by
Chief Justice Austin Asche. In a report below, Northern Territory News editor Bob Watts talks about how three Territorians were "roped in" off the street to
participate on a jury panel.
Extract from 'Northern Territory News' of 7 February 1992:-
SHERIFF GRABS THREE FOR JURY
By BOB WATTS
| Three blameless Darwin people were "roped in" by the
sheriff last Friday and told they would be deprived of their liberty for a while.
But it was not a scene from the Wild West as the Sheriff of the Supreme Court, diminutive Ms Karen
Jackson, and her rather larger sheriff's officer, Mr Steve Durant, approached people in the Smith St mall.
Armed only with the considerable powers of her office, Ms Jackson was sent out by Chief Justice Austin Asche to
find three jurors in a hurry.
The reason was that the panel of 50 people from which a jury was to be selected was "exhausted" after
11 jurors were chosen.
Justice Asche had previously excused a number of people who, for various reasons, had asked to be forgiven jury
service.
Then the three defence counsel between them challenged 38 of the panel and the crown prosecutor stood one aside.
So after the 11 jurors were empanelled there were no more names in the ballot box.
The number of challenges was unusual because 11 people had been arraigned on the same charge and each defendant
in a trial has six challenges.
Defence counsel could have challenged up to 66 and a crown prosecutor could stand aside up to six.
The NT Juries Act provides for one or more reserve jurors, who sit on the whole trial but take part in the final
deliberations only as a replacement for a juror who becomes ill or injured.
As this trial was set down for six days, the judge would have most likely ordered 14 jurors empanelled.
So Justice Asche told the court he was taking, reluctantly, the once common course of picking jurors off the
street, known in legal terms as "praying at tales".
Section 37 (2) of the Act allows the court, at the request of the prosecutor or the defence, to "order the
sheriff to appoint persons in the vicinity of the court".
Leading Darwin jurists believe this is the first instance in Australia for about 50 years that a court had called
in "talesman".
|
One found a record of this happening in England in 1958.
So Ms Jackson, smartly dressed but without badge or uniform, and Mr Durant, dressed in the court uniform of black
tie and white shirt with crowns on the collar, sailed forth from the new Supreme Court.
In Raintree Park next to the present Legislative Assembly they approached a couple but they turned out to be
visitors to Darwin.
Ms Jackson said: "We found our three jurors in the Mall after stopping a number of people to make sure they
were eligible."
The criteria was being a resident, over 18 years old and on the electoral roll, having no criminal record and
being fluent in English.
Ms Jackson said: "People are certainly surprised to be told they are to be deprived of their liberty for no
reason other than to serve on a jury.
"People generally do not understand what powers of the Sheriff are, what the Juries Act provides or what a
talesman is."
But the three (a young tradesman, a young woman from a government department and businessman on his way to the
bank) accepted Ms Jackson's authority and went to the court.
But once there, they too, were challenged.
Justice Asche told the court he had no alternative but to discharge the jury panel for the trial of the nine men
and two juveniles from Peppimenarti, jointly accused of a dangerous act causing the death of a 23-year-old man.
The trial has been adjourned to July 20.
Ms Jackson said the summonsed 150 people for the jury panel but only 73 turned up.
She said: "In July I will have to summons 170 to 180 people to make sure I get 80 people on the day."
"The problem is that Darwin is a transitory town and summonses are now sent by mail."
"People leave or change address and some forget to send back the acknowledgment."
"So I really don't know until the day how many will turn up." |
Next month: Darwin Supreme Court takes Video Conferencing to new levels!. |
