Nordea Bank Norge ASA v. KINGUK (Ship)

In Maritime Liens, Mortgages & Priorities on (Updated )

Two vessels had been sold by the Court for the sum of $5.8 million and this case was to determine priorities and distribute the proceeds. The fees and disbursements incurred in selling the ships were incurred by the mortgagee. These fees and expenses, including solicitors fees and brokerage fees, were given priority akin to Marshall’s fees. The next claims in priority behind the Marshall’s fees were the claims of the crew for wages and a claim by Canada Revenue for employee source deductions. It was not necessary to determine the priority as between these two claims. The next claim in the ranking was the claim of the mortgagee, which claim included amounts paid to solicitors and disbursements of a distress nature which were reasonably incurred for maintaining the ship. Following the mortgagee were claims by necessaries suppliers and claims by Revenue Canada and the Workers Compensation Board of Nova Scotia. There were insufficient funds to satisfy these claims and the Court ordered that they share in the distribution pari passu while acknowledging that whether they should rank pari passu was not fully argued.