In his time, retiring High Court registrar and sheriff Graham Ford reckons he had more ships under his control than Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.
At a ceremony in the High Court at Auckland, 59-year-old Mr Ford handed over to a former deputy registrar, Tony Mortimer.
As registrar, Mr Ford also hadadmiralty duties with the power to arrest ships, generally for insolvency on the part of the owners, non-payment of bills for repairs or fuel, non-payment of crews' wages or disputes over cargo damage.
"In my time I have been responsible for more than 70 ships, the majority foreign trading ships or trawlers - Onassis has had fewer ships than me," said Mr Ford.
The ancient office of sheriff dates back to 7th century England.
As the Queen's bailiff, the sheriff executes court orders for seizure and sale of property.
It was also the sheriff's function to supervise the hangings of condemned prisoners.
As Mr Ford has been sheriff for only 11 years, he has been spared the gory task of overseeing executions, the last of which was in the 1950s.
In retirement, Mr Ford will not take things easy. He will undertake part-time consultancy work on deceased estates.
And to keep his hand in, he has also accepted a position as the registrar of the newly created Supreme and Magistrate's Courts in the remote Pitcairn Islands, which have fewer than 50 inhabitants.
