Nedship Bank NV v The Owners of the ship ‘Zoodotis’ - Federal Court (Trial Div)(Hargrave P) - 24 March 1999

Admiralty practice - Court ordered sale of vessel - Highest bidder failing to pay balance of purchase price within time stipulated because of bank error - Court granting ex parte order giving short extension of time - Whether second highest bidder entitled to have order set aside

The vessel Zoodotis was ordered to be sold by the Court. The highest bid was US$4,950,000 from a Dutch company, but there was a problem getting the balance of the purchase price transferred to Vancouver by the stipulated date. The Dutch company made an ex parte application for an extra two days to transfer the balance of the purchase price, there having been a transfer error by bankers.