BROKER CUT - OUT

Norwegian ship brokers via a London broker, commenced negotiations for the sale of a tanker to a Greek buyer.  Discussions continued for several months until the shipowner went bankrupt and the ship was taken over by a Norwegian bank.  The bank commenced sale negotiations through the same London broker, but used a different broker in Norway. The ship was sold to the original Greek buyers.

The original Norwegian brokers felt that, as the effective cause of the sale, they were still entitled to commission of 1% (about US$ 265,000), and legal proceedings were commenced in Norway against the bank.

The court of first instance found the bank liable to pay the commission plus interest and costs, as did the appeal court.  The final settlement by the bank amounted to US$ 528,000. This included costs of approximately US$100,000 which the Club was pleased to recover.