Bargain vessel at risk of scrap heap

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Black Bart, an islands trading ship arrested in Auckland with more than $1 million in debts, may face the scrapheap after being sold for less than half its appraised value.

Auckland firm Reef Shipping confirmed yesterday that it was buying the stranded 1200-tonne vessel after the High Court accepted an offer of $360,000 in the absence of rival bids.

The court approved the sale on Friday, a fortnight after a waterfront auction followed by a broker's renewed efforts to find a buyer willing to pay a price closer to an appraised value of $750,000.

The ship was formerly the Ngamaru 3.

Rumblings of interest from parties in the Chatham Islands, which the ship has supplied since the early 1990s, came to nothing.

Reef managing director Phillip McNicholl said he would visit the Vanuatu-flagged ship today to assure its German captain and two officers that they would have first option for jobs if he could drum up enough business in the Pacific Islands.

Seven Filipino sailors were flown home in July owed more than $95,000 in wages. Captain Helmut Lohmann is claiming about $188,000 and the officers more than $110,000 in arrears.

But Mr McNicholl said the vessel was too old and small to carry cargoes economically to and from New Zealand, so the only hope of making it viable was to work it between island states.

If this was not possible, the alternative would be to recover costs by loading it with a cargo for China, where the ship would be turned into scrap.

He ruled out a return to the Chathams, which are now supplied by a smaller ship from Timaru and Napier.

Mr McNicholl said the company had been caught somewhat off-guard, as it expected its opening bid to be trumped by another buyer.

He confirmed that the company had interests in seven other Pacific cargo ships, but denied that its purchase of Black Bart was a case of blocking potential competition.

The vessel's former half-owner, Auckland-based BB Shipping, has previously accused rivals of anti-competitive practices. But BB Shipping would not comment yesterday on the sale.

Captain Lohmann, who owned the other half, expressed disappointment yesterday with the low price, but said it was better than nothing.

Although unpaid wages are given preference ahead of most other debts, he confirmed that there would only be about $200,000 left for distribution after the payment of arrest costs, which receive top priority.

He said he had no complaint about legal representation from Auckland maritime lawyer John Gresson, who is the chairman of Reef Shipping but handed the case to a separate law firm on the eve of last week's High Court hearing.

Mr Gresson said that once he became aware of Reef's bid he remained unsure whether it would be accepted.

He told the captain he would be unable to continue representing him if it were put to the court for approval.

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