Adelaide Steamship Company
Encyclopedia
The Adelaide Steamship Company was formed by a group of South Australian businessmen in 1875. Their aim was to control the transport of goods between Adelaide
and Melbourne
and profit from the need for an efficient and comfortable passenger service
. For the first 100 years of its life, the main activities of the company were conventional shipping operations on the Australian coast, primary products, consumer cargoes and extensive passenger services.
In the 1930s and 1940s, the company diversified into the airline operations, towage, shipbuilding, and the shipping of salt, coal and sugar. Adelaide Airways was formed in 1935, and purchased West Australian Airways before merging with Holyman's Airways to form Australian National Airways
(ANA) in 1936. ANA was sold to Reg Ansett
in 1957.
In 1964, the Interstate fleet merged with McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co
, and the partnership developed the world's first purpose built container ships. However, in 1973, the company ceased its shipbuilding operations, and in 1977, in its 103rd year of operation, the company sold its shipping related businesses, and ceased its connection with ship owning and operating. The company did, however, retain its interests in Tugboat
operations.
In the 1970s and 1980s, with John Spalvins
at the helm, the company became a thriving and successful corporate raider with a very large and productive portfolio financed by huge borrowings. The recession
of the early 1990s caused the nervous lenders, (over 200 banks), to demand the return of their assets. This forced the liquidation
of the porfolio, some of it at "fire-sale" prices, but most in a more orderly fashion via an "arrangement" with the creditor banks to avoid bankruptcy
.
With the completion of the liquidation, on 30 April 1997 the company was renamed to "Residual Assco Group Limited" in order that the Adelaide Steamship name could be reused. Residual Assco was delisted on 24 December 1999 "at the entity's request".A subsequent entry dated 3 April 2007 states: "company is an unlisted public company awaiting resolution of outstanding tax issues - it may then be wound up - shareholders are unlikely to receive any return but they can contact the company on 02 9258 8833 or Registries Ltd on 02 9290 9600".
In June 1997, the Tug boat operations were floated on the Australian Stock Exchange
under the name "AdSteam Marine". In 2001, AdSteam Marine acquired its major rival, Howard Smith, making it the largest towage operator in Australia.
In 2006, AdSteam Marine was acquired as the Pacific arm of the world's largest shipping company, AP Moeller-Maersk, thus removing the Adelaide Steamship name from the Australian Stock Exchange and Australian Company registers.
The Company was formed in September 1875 in Adelaide, South Australia
, by a group of pastoralists and businessmen some whom already had steamship interests in the Spencer Gulf
, namely Federal Wharf Co. Ltd, Port Adelaide Dredging Company Ltd and Spencer Gulf Shipping Co. Ltd, and was incorporated
on 8 October 1875.
Its promoters and founding directors included Andrew Tennant, Robert Barr Smith
and Thomas Elder
of Elder Smith & Co Ltd. The first ship of the new company was the Flinders. In July 1876 the company's leading promoters amalgamated their private ship-owning interests to form the Spencer's Gulf Steamship Co Ltd, trading in South Australian coastal waters. The two companies amalgamated in December 1882. The fleet circled the coast from Derby
in northern Western Australia
to Cairns in northern Queensland
. Shipping operations were supported by a large network of agency offices in almost every major Australian port.
During World War I
, several Adelaide Steamship Company ships were requisitioned
, as were several other privately owned ships; Grantala and Warilda
as hospital ships and Wandilla
and Willochra
as troopships. Yankalilla and Echunga were also commandeered.
Adelaide Steamship Company was liquidated and reconstructed twice for more efficient and profitable operation, first in 1900 and subsequently in 1920. On 20 January 1915 they took over Coast Steamships Limited, and kept it running as a subsidiary that retained its own identity until 1968.
By the start of World War II
, the company owned 30 ships. With World War II, the company was again forced to surrender nine ships to the Navy, including the Manoora and Manunda which became an Armed Merchant Cruiser and a hospital ship. The Manunda was in Darwin harbour during the Japanese bombing and was able to bring 260 military and civilian casualties to safety in Fremantle
. In all during the war she carried about 30,000 sick and wounded back to Australia from the Middle East
and New Guinea
. During the 1940s, a decline in trade necessitated the company to diversify and they began to acquire interests in other companies and projects. Consequently, after the war, the company diversified into towage, shipbuilding, and the shipping of salt, coal and sugar.
On 1 January 1964, its interstate fleet was merged with that of McIlwraith McEacharn Ltd
in a new company, Associated Steamships Ltd, in which Adelaide Steamship Company held 40%. Also in 1964, the merged company developed the world's first purpose built container ship, MV Kooringa
. Bulkships Ltd, in which Adelaide Steamship held a 40% interest in 1965, acquired all the shares in Associated Steamship Ltd in 1968. In 1977 the company's interest in Bulkships was disposed of and Adelaide Steamship Company ceased its connection with ship owning and operating. The company did, however, retain its interests in Tug boats and Tug boat operations and by the late 1980s, Adelaide Steamship was one of Australia's oldest surviving industrial companies.
, the General Aircraft Monospar ST-25
, and the De Havilland DH.89A.
On 12 June 1936, Adelaide Airways purchased West Australian Airways
for £25,000. Ivan Holyman (of Holyman's Airways Pty. Ltd.) approached AdSteam with a view to an amalgamation, aiming to form Australia's most powerful airline which would effectively control airline traffic between Perth
, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. On 12 June 1936 the two companies merged and, on 2 November 1936 with Orient Steam Navigation Company
and Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand, formed Australian National Airways Pty. Ltd. (ANA), "the pre- and post-war giant among Australian domestic airlines". AdSteam retained partial ownership in ANA until Holyman's death in 1957. The ANA board then unsuccessfully attempted to sell out to the Government owned Trans Australia Airlines
(TAA), before reaching agreement with Reg Ansett
to sell the airline to him for £3.3 million. ANA and Ansett Airways were merged to form Ansett-ANA on 3 October 1957.
. This hull design for tugs gave them greater bollard pull from a given horsepower. Adelaide Ship Construction had been set up especially to address the issue of Australia's ageing fleet of tugs. The yard was built on the historic Fletcher's slip site at Birkenhead
.
The keel
for the first tug was laid 20 May 1958 and it was launched 12 February 1959. The shipyard site grew from two acres and one berth to four berths and 6½ acres in 1968, and to cater for vessels up to 425 feet long. At this time it employed more than 1000 men. Adelaide Ship Construction had also acquired from Burness, Corlett and Partners the licence for their 'Towmaster' patent. Coupled with the Hydroconic hull design this enabled ever greater pull in its tugs. Hamersley Comet, built in 1968 had a bollard pull of 34.1 tons, the strongest to that time.
However, by 1973 the yard was running at a loss of $3.4 million, and it was officially closed in August of that year. Its last ship was Cape York.
In 1977 the company's interest in Bulkships Ltd. was disposed of, and Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd ceased its connection with ship owning and operating. It had diversified into investment and property ownership
, vineyard and wine production
, optical goods manufacturing and distribution, engineering
, share investment
, and, until 1973, shipbuilding. Thus towage and associated operations continued to have prominence, even during the 1970s and 1980s when The Adelaide Steamship Company became the foundation for one the country's major conglomerate organisations
.
As this activity was happening, towage began to reassert itself as an important element of the company; during this period of aggressive growth, AdSteam had 156 tug boats and operated in over 40 Australian, Indian
, Pacific Ocean
a and British ports. Strengthened by a series of industry rationalisations - Brambles
' Port Kembla
, Sydney and Newcastle
operations and P&O's towage operations in Western Australia - the towage division became a valuable candidate for asset disposal. In April 1997 the company changed its name to Residual Assco Group Ltd and in June 1997 floated its marine division which was registered on the Australian Stock Exchange
as Adsteam Marine Ltd.
Once it became a publicly listed company in its own right, Adsteam Marine established a strong investor following. In addition to towage, the company developed shipping agency and tug barging activities. Adsteam Marine Limited doubled its size in May 2001 when it acquired the towage interests of Howard Smith, its partner in many towage ventures, for more than A$500 million (US$246 million), making it the largest towage operator in Australia.
In 2006, it was acquired as the Pacific arm of the world's largest shipping company, AP Moeller-Maersk.
of the Adelaide Steamship Company in 1977, John Spalvins
built up one of Australia's largest industrial conglomerates and became one of the most feared takeover specialists in corporate Australia. Spalvins transformed himself into an entrepreneur
, using vast amounts of debt to launch a series of massive takeovers. Adsteam "aggressively acquired significant shareholdings in a variety of companies in a number of fields including retailing, hotels, leisure industries and civil engineering." "Adsteam's share price rose dramatically through much of the 1980s and it was hailed by some commentators as being entrepreneurial, well managed and with a highly disciplined reporting system."
At its height, the Adsteam group included Woolworths, David Jones, brewer Tooth and Company, the Petersville Sleigh food group, the "Farmers Union
" dairy group, Metro Meat, a stable of premium wineries and many others. Also, at various stages, it held a 15% stake in Westpac
, a 20% stake in Bell Resources Ltd
, and numerous other "strategic" stakes and investments. During this period of aggressive growth, AdSteam also had 156 tug boats and operated in over 40 Australian, Indian, Pacific Ocean and British ports. The company was Australia's fourth highest capitalised company during the 1980s.
where many of the companies of the group owned not-quite-50% of each other. This served the dual purposes of making the elements of the group "take-over proof", but did not trigger the financial reporting requirements of a consolidated set of accounts. In the 1990 Adelaide Steamship Company Annual Report, the following companies were reported as "Principal operating subsidiaries" of the AdSteam Group, with the following cross ownerships greater than 5%:
The Adelaide Steamship Company
David Jones Limited
Tooth and Co.
Petersville Sleigh Ltd
National Consolidated Limited
Howard Smith Ltd
Industrial Equity Limited (IEL)
During the 1980s, AdSteam instigated a number of "Share plays", and also made significant investments in a number of companies including:
The source of the above data, (SA Govt Auditor in 1993), in a comment dated 26 April 1990, states: "Papers also comment on "off the record" discussions with Adsteam Group's major bankers and gives exposures of nine banks (including the Bank) which total $4,960M. There is little comment on this figure but an analysis of each company's results shows assets exceed liabilities in each company by a good margin." A second comment states: 'Paper also comments on recent press issues including potential worst case losses of $110.0M from Bell Resources investment - "the impact of such a loss ..... is not considered a major concern" '
A subsequent comment dated 26 July 1990 states: 'Lending Credit Committee minute notes planned reduction in exposure through maturity of facilities. Also notes extension of other facilities to August 1991 which illustrates "the continued level of confidence this Bank held in Adsteam's continuity". With the benefit of hindsight, further comments make interesting reading. It is also interesting to note that despite the assurances recorded in the board papers, from that point in time the State Bank of South Australia steadily reduced its exposure to the AdSteam Group.
The previously "nervous" banks were far from happy, and started demanding the return of their capital. Of course, AdSteam had this money invested, and did not have billions of dollars of liquid assets. Also of course, the banks were not keen to force AdSteam into bankruptcy as such a situation would be unlikely to achieve the return of their assets. Hence, AdSteam organised an "arrangement" with the 200 banks, and in 1991 the Adsteam group was placed under an informal, receivership-type scheme of arrangement. Under this arrangement, there was an orderly disposal of assets.
During the course of the disposal, there were a number of sales, and four very successful floats:
Never-the-less, not all of the disposals were made under ideal circumstances, and Adsteam's loss of $4.49 billion represented one of Australia's largest corporate collapses.
However, the major lesson out of the AdSteam collapse was for the accounting profession; a newspaper report on its failure carried the sub-headline "Adsteam a humiliation for the accounting profession". "Adsteam was "an excellent instance of how the rule-book approach to consolidation accounting imposed by the law and the Accounting Standards at the time determined managerial actions" ".
The "Adsteam saga" resulted in major changes to Australian accounting rules pertaining to consolidation and led to the issue of AAS 24 Consolidated Financial Statements by the accounting profession in June 1990 for application from 30 June 1991 (subject to a "legal impediment", see Deegan, 2005, p. 880) and the issue of AASB 1024 Consolidated Accounts with statutory backing in 1991
Specifically, the definition of "control" for consolidation purposes was broadened beyond prescribed ownership interests to embrace control over an entity's financial and operating policies, making use of the notion of "substance over form" in determining the existence of a controlled entity.
The "AdSteam saga" also provided some lessons for banks and auditors. For example, the SA Govt Auditor produced a number of Case Studies - Volume 6 is titled "The Management of Credit: Case Studies", and Chapter 9 is titled "Case Study in Credit Management: The AdSteam Group". The opening sentence states: "The exposure to the Adelaide Steamship Company Limited Group of Companies was complex.", and if your interests lie in those directions, makes fascinating reading.
and Australian Law is interpreted.
(1920) 28 CLR
129" (commonly known as the Engineers' Case) was a landmark Australian court case decided in the High Court of Australia
on 31 August 1920. From a legal perspective, this case is widely regarded as one of the most important cases ever decided by the High Court of Australia
, for it swept away the earlier doctrines of implied intergovernmental immunities and reserved State powers
, firmly establishing the modern basis for the legal understanding of federalism
in Australia and Australian constitutional law
. In essence, this meant that decisions of the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Court were binding on State governments. and that the constitution is no longer read in a way which attempts to preserve the power of the states.
When providing his judgement on Strickland v Rocla Concrete Pipes Ltd
, (where the Court unanimously rejected the decision in Huddart, Parker & Co Pty Ltd v Moorehead, holding that it was based on the rejected doctrine of reserved State powers, which was abolished in Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd.), Justice Barwick stated "the earlier doctrine virtually reversed the Constitution".
(ASIC) vs former AdSteam directors and auditors.
Australian corporate governance
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
and Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and profit from the need for an efficient and comfortable passenger service
Passenger ship
A passenger ship is a ship whose primary function is to carry passengers. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters once common on the seas in which the transport of passengers is...
. For the first 100 years of its life, the main activities of the company were conventional shipping operations on the Australian coast, primary products, consumer cargoes and extensive passenger services.
In the 1930s and 1940s, the company diversified into the airline operations, towage, shipbuilding, and the shipping of salt, coal and sugar. Adelaide Airways was formed in 1935, and purchased West Australian Airways before merging with Holyman's Airways to form Australian National Airways
Australian National Airways
Australian National Airways was Australia's predominant carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s.-The Holyman Airways Period:On 19 March 1932 Flinders Island Airways began a regular aerial service using the Desoutter Mk.II VH-UEE Miss Launceston between Launceston, Tasmania and Flinders...
(ANA) in 1936. ANA was sold to Reg Ansett
Reg Ansett
Sir Reginald Myles "Reg" Ansett KBE was an Australian businessman and aviator; best known for founding Ansett Transport Industries Limited, which owned one of Australia's two leading domestic airlines between 1957 and 2001...
in 1957.
In 1964, the Interstate fleet merged with McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co
Malcolm McEacharn
Sir Malcolm Donald McEacharn was Mayor of Melbourne from 1897 to 1900. He was a well-known Australian shipping magnate in the early part of the twentieth century and successfully stood for the Division of Melbourne at the inaugural federal election, held in 1901.- Early life :McEacharn was born in...
, and the partnership developed the world's first purpose built container ships. However, in 1973, the company ceased its shipbuilding operations, and in 1977, in its 103rd year of operation, the company sold its shipping related businesses, and ceased its connection with ship owning and operating. The company did, however, retain its interests in Tugboat
Tugboat
A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...
operations.
In the 1970s and 1980s, with John Spalvins
John Spalvins
John Spalvins, born Janis Gunnars Spalvins, 1936, in Latvia, was Managing Director of the Adelaide Steamship Company from 1977 until the company's collapse in 1991. During this period under Spalvins' control, "AdSteam" became Australia's major corporate entity with interests and significant...
at the helm, the company became a thriving and successful corporate raider with a very large and productive portfolio financed by huge borrowings. The recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
of the early 1990s caused the nervous lenders, (over 200 banks), to demand the return of their assets. This forced the liquidation
Liquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...
of the porfolio, some of it at "fire-sale" prices, but most in a more orderly fashion via an "arrangement" with the creditor banks to avoid bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
.
With the completion of the liquidation, on 30 April 1997 the company was renamed to "Residual Assco Group Limited" in order that the Adelaide Steamship name could be reused. Residual Assco was delisted on 24 December 1999 "at the entity's request".A subsequent entry dated 3 April 2007 states: "company is an unlisted public company awaiting resolution of outstanding tax issues - it may then be wound up - shareholders are unlikely to receive any return but they can contact the company on 02 9258 8833 or Registries Ltd on 02 9290 9600".
In June 1997, the Tug boat operations were floated on the Australian Stock Exchange
Australian Stock Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....
under the name "AdSteam Marine". In 2001, AdSteam Marine acquired its major rival, Howard Smith, making it the largest towage operator in Australia.
In 2006, AdSteam Marine was acquired as the Pacific arm of the world's largest shipping company, AP Moeller-Maersk, thus removing the Adelaide Steamship name from the Australian Stock Exchange and Australian Company registers.
Steamships
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, by a group of pastoralists and businessmen some whom already had steamship interests in the Spencer Gulf
Spencer Gulf
The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost of two large inlets on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. The Gulf is 322 km long and 129 km wide at its mouth. The western shore of the Gulf is the Eyre Peninsula, while the eastern side is the...
, namely Federal Wharf Co. Ltd, Port Adelaide Dredging Company Ltd and Spencer Gulf Shipping Co. Ltd, and was incorporated
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
on 8 October 1875.
Its promoters and founding directors included Andrew Tennant, Robert Barr Smith
Robert Barr Smith
Robert Barr Smith was an Australian businessman and philanthropist.Smith was born at Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, Scotland, the son of the Rev...
and Thomas Elder
Thomas Elder
Sir Thomas Elder GCMG was a Scottish-Australian pastoralist, highly successful businessman, philanthropist, politician, race-horse owner and breeder and public figure...
of Elder Smith & Co Ltd. The first ship of the new company was the Flinders. In July 1876 the company's leading promoters amalgamated their private ship-owning interests to form the Spencer's Gulf Steamship Co Ltd, trading in South Australian coastal waters. The two companies amalgamated in December 1882. The fleet circled the coast from Derby
Derby, Western Australia
Derby is a town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. At the 2006 census, Derby had a population of 3,093. Along with Broome and Kununurra, it is one of only three towns in the Kimberley to have a population over 2,000...
in northern Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
to Cairns in northern Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. Shipping operations were supported by a large network of agency offices in almost every major Australian port.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, several Adelaide Steamship Company ships were requisitioned
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
, as were several other privately owned ships; Grantala and Warilda
HMAT Warilda
HMAT Warilda was a 7713 ton vessel, built by William Beardmore and Company in Glasgow as the SS Warilda for the Adelaide Steamship Company...
as hospital ships and Wandilla
HMAT Wandilla
The SS Wandilla 7785 tons, was built in 1912 by William Beardmore and Company, Glasgow for the Adelaide Steamship Company.-Design and construction:...
and Willochra
RMS Fort Victoria
Fort Victoria was a 7,784 GRT cruise ship which was built in 1912 as Willochra. During the First World War she was requisitioned for use as a troopship. In 1920 she was sold and renamed Fort Victoria, serving until lost in a collision in 1929.-History:Willochra was built by William Beardmore & Co...
as troopships. Yankalilla and Echunga were also commandeered.
Adelaide Steamship Company was liquidated and reconstructed twice for more efficient and profitable operation, first in 1900 and subsequently in 1920. On 20 January 1915 they took over Coast Steamships Limited, and kept it running as a subsidiary that retained its own identity until 1968.
By the start of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the company owned 30 ships. With World War II, the company was again forced to surrender nine ships to the Navy, including the Manoora and Manunda which became an Armed Merchant Cruiser and a hospital ship. The Manunda was in Darwin harbour during the Japanese bombing and was able to bring 260 military and civilian casualties to safety in Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
. In all during the war she carried about 30,000 sick and wounded back to Australia from the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. During the 1940s, a decline in trade necessitated the company to diversify and they began to acquire interests in other companies and projects. Consequently, after the war, the company diversified into towage, shipbuilding, and the shipping of salt, coal and sugar.
On 1 January 1964, its interstate fleet was merged with that of McIlwraith McEacharn Ltd
Malcolm McEacharn
Sir Malcolm Donald McEacharn was Mayor of Melbourne from 1897 to 1900. He was a well-known Australian shipping magnate in the early part of the twentieth century and successfully stood for the Division of Melbourne at the inaugural federal election, held in 1901.- Early life :McEacharn was born in...
in a new company, Associated Steamships Ltd, in which Adelaide Steamship Company held 40%. Also in 1964, the merged company developed the world's first purpose built container ship, MV Kooringa
MV Kooringa
MV Kooringa was the world's first fully cellular purpose-built container ship and was built by Australian company, Associated Steamships Pty. Ltd. in partnership with McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co and commissioned in May 1964...
. Bulkships Ltd, in which Adelaide Steamship held a 40% interest in 1965, acquired all the shares in Associated Steamship Ltd in 1968. In 1977 the company's interest in Bulkships was disposed of and Adelaide Steamship Company ceased its connection with ship owning and operating. The company did, however, retain its interests in Tug boats and Tug boat operations and by the late 1980s, Adelaide Steamship was one of Australia's oldest surviving industrial companies.
Ships
Ships owned and operated by Adelaide Steamship Company included:- Argosy Lemal, later BooyaBooya (ship)Booya was a three-masted schooner with a steel hull built in the Netherlands in 1917. She was originally named De Lauwers. Booya was last seen anchored off Fort Hill wharf in Darwin Harbour at about 8.00pm on 24 December 1974, the evening Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin...
- HMAS BungareeHMAS BungareeHMAS Bungaree was an auxiliary minelayer of Royal Australian Navy , serving during World War II. The ship was built as a cargo vessel for the Adelaide Steamship Company by Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company at Dundee, and launched in 1937. The ship operated in Australian waters and was...
- SS Camira Built 1894 as SS Clan Campbell
- SS Cantara Built 1894 as SS Clan Ross
- SS CedunaShinyo MaruShinyo Maru was a Japanese Cargo steamer during the Second World War. She was one of the hell ships, used to transport prisoners of war. She had served under a number of other names under a long career.-Career:...
Built 1894 as SS Clan Mackay - SS FerretSS FerretSS Ferret was an iron screw steamship of 460 tons built in Glasgow in 1871 by J & G Thomson, Glasgow.The ship was built for G & J Burns of Glasgow for use in the River Clyde ferry service. In 1873, Dingwall & Skye Railway Co Ltd bought it for use in the construction of the Tay Rail Bridge. Later,...
- MV KooringaMV KooringaMV Kooringa was the world's first fully cellular purpose-built container ship and was built by Australian company, Associated Steamships Pty. Ltd. in partnership with McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co and commissioned in May 1964...
- SS KoombanaSS KoombanaThe SS Koombana was a coastal passenger and cargo steamship which sank at an unknown location north of Port Hedland, Western Australia during a cyclone on 20 March 1912 with the loss of approximately 138 lives, including 20 crew. Other than some floating wreckage, no trace was ever found of the...
- HMAS ManooraHMAS Manoora (1935)HMAS Manoora was a motor vessel laid down for the Adelaide Steamship Company by Alex Stephen and Son at Govan in Scotland in July 1934, launched on 25 October 1935 and completed in 1935....
- TSMV ManundaManundaManunda was an Australian registered and crewed passenger ship which was converted to a hospital ship in 1940. During the war Manunda saw service in both the Middle East and Pacific Campaigns, specifically New Guinea...
- MV Minnipa
- MV MoontaMV MoontaMV Moonta is a 1931 built Australian coastal passenger ship. Later in life she became the landlocked casino ship and tourist attraction Casino Le Lydia in Le Barcarès, France. -Service Years:...
- SS Paringa
- Polly WoodsidePolly WoodsidePolly Woodside is a Belfast built, three-masted, iron-hulled barque, preserved in Melbourne, Australia and forming the central feature of the South Wharf precinct. The ship was originally built in Belfast by William J. Woodside and was launched in 1885...
(1922–1953) - SS Warilda, later HMAT WarildaHMAT WarildaHMAT Warilda was a 7713 ton vessel, built by William Beardmore and Company in Glasgow as the SS Warilda for the Adelaide Steamship Company...
- SS Willochra, later RMS Fort VictoriaRMS Fort VictoriaFort Victoria was a 7,784 GRT cruise ship which was built in 1912 as Willochra. During the First World War she was requisitioned for use as a troopship. In 1920 she was sold and renamed Fort Victoria, serving until lost in a collision in 1929.-History:Willochra was built by William Beardmore & Co...
- SS YongalaSS YongalaThe passenger ship SS Yongala sank off Cape Bowling Green, Queensland, Australia on 23 March 1911. En route from Melbourne to Cairns she steamed into a cyclone and sank south of Townsville...
Aeroplanes
Adelaide Airways Ltd. was formed as a subsidiary of the Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd. on 3 July 1935 and commenced operations on 29 October. It had a number of different types of aircraft in its fleet, including the Short ScionShort Scion
The Short S.16 Scion and Scion II were 1930s British two-engine, cantilever monoplanes built by Short Brothers and by Pobjoy Airmotors and Aircraft Ltd. in Rochester, Kent between 1933 and 1937...
, the General Aircraft Monospar ST-25
General Aircraft Monospar ST-25
The General Aircraft Monospar ST-25 was a British 1930s light twin-engined utility aircraft.-Design and development:The Monospar ST-25 was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a fabric-covered metal structure. The monospar name came from the use of a single spar in the wing structure that had been...
, and the De Havilland DH.89A.
On 12 June 1936, Adelaide Airways purchased West Australian Airways
West Australian Airways
West Australian Airways was an Australian airline based out of Geraldton, Western Australia. Established on 5 December 1921 as Western Australian Airways by World War I pilot Norman Brearley it was the first airline in Australian history to establish a scheduled air service. The first service left...
for £25,000. Ivan Holyman (of Holyman's Airways Pty. Ltd.) approached AdSteam with a view to an amalgamation, aiming to form Australia's most powerful airline which would effectively control airline traffic between Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. On 12 June 1936 the two companies merged and, on 2 November 1936 with Orient Steam Navigation Company
Orient Steam Navigation Company
The Orient Steam Navigation Company, also known as the Orient Line, was a British shipping company with roots going back to the late 18th century...
and Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand, formed Australian National Airways Pty. Ltd. (ANA), "the pre- and post-war giant among Australian domestic airlines". AdSteam retained partial ownership in ANA until Holyman's death in 1957. The ANA board then unsuccessfully attempted to sell out to the Government owned Trans Australia Airlines
Trans Australia Airlines
Trans Australia Airlines or TAA, was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its sale to Qantas in May 1996. During that period TAA played a major part in the development of the Australian air transport industry...
(TAA), before reaching agreement with Reg Ansett
Reg Ansett
Sir Reginald Myles "Reg" Ansett KBE was an Australian businessman and aviator; best known for founding Ansett Transport Industries Limited, which owned one of Australia's two leading domestic airlines between 1957 and 2001...
to sell the airline to him for £3.3 million. ANA and Ansett Airways were merged to form Ansett-ANA on 3 October 1957.
Shipbuilding
Adelaide Ship Construction Ltd was set up as a subsidiary of the Adelaide Steamship Company in 1957, and was incorporated in July 1957. At the same time it was issued with the sole Australian licence for the Hydroconic hull design patented by Burness, Corlett & Partners, United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. This hull design for tugs gave them greater bollard pull from a given horsepower. Adelaide Ship Construction had been set up especially to address the issue of Australia's ageing fleet of tugs. The yard was built on the historic Fletcher's slip site at Birkenhead
Birkenhead, South Australia
Birkenhead is a north-western suburb of Adelaide 14 km from the CBD, on the Lefevre Peninsula, in the state of South Australia, Australia and falls under the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. It is adjacent to Peterhead, Exeter and Glanville...
.
The keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
for the first tug was laid 20 May 1958 and it was launched 12 February 1959. The shipyard site grew from two acres and one berth to four berths and 6½ acres in 1968, and to cater for vessels up to 425 feet long. At this time it employed more than 1000 men. Adelaide Ship Construction had also acquired from Burness, Corlett and Partners the licence for their 'Towmaster' patent. Coupled with the Hydroconic hull design this enabled ever greater pull in its tugs. Hamersley Comet, built in 1968 had a bollard pull of 34.1 tons, the strongest to that time.
However, by 1973 the yard was running at a loss of $3.4 million, and it was officially closed in August of that year. Its last ship was Cape York.
Tug boat operations
A relatively minor sideline, started in the 1890s, was the company's tug boat operations. Gradually, tug boat operations extended over a number of ports, but until the middle of the 20th century they remained the poor relation of the more significant coastal shipping operations. With the decline of coastal shipping however, towage assumed more importance. By the 1960s, towage and associated operations represented a very significant part of the company's activities.In 1977 the company's interest in Bulkships Ltd. was disposed of, and Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd ceased its connection with ship owning and operating. It had diversified into investment and property ownership
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
, vineyard and wine production
Winemaking
Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
, optical goods manufacturing and distribution, engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, share investment
Share (finance)
A joint stock company divides its capital into units of equal denomination. Each unit is called a share. These units are offered for sale to raise capital. This is termed as issuing shares. A person who buys share/shares of the company is called a shareholder, and by acquiring share or shares in...
, and, until 1973, shipbuilding. Thus towage and associated operations continued to have prominence, even during the 1970s and 1980s when The Adelaide Steamship Company became the foundation for one the country's major conglomerate organisations
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
.
As this activity was happening, towage began to reassert itself as an important element of the company; during this period of aggressive growth, AdSteam had 156 tug boats and operated in over 40 Australian, Indian
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
a and British ports. Strengthened by a series of industry rationalisations - Brambles
Brambles Limited
Brambles Limited is a support services business listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.-History:Brambles traces its history to 1875, when Walter Bramble began his career in Newcastle, north of Sydney, Australia. Brambles Industries Limited first listed in Australia in 1954...
' Port Kembla
Port Kembla, New South Wales
Port Kembla is a suburb of Wollongong 8 km south of the CBD and part of the Illawarra region of New South Wales. The suburb comprises a seaport, industrial complex , a small harbour foreshore nature reserve, and a small commercial sector. It is situated on the tip of Red Point, first sighted...
, Sydney and Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
operations and P&O's towage operations in Western Australia - the towage division became a valuable candidate for asset disposal. In April 1997 the company changed its name to Residual Assco Group Ltd and in June 1997 floated its marine division which was registered on the Australian Stock Exchange
Australian Stock Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....
as Adsteam Marine Ltd.
Once it became a publicly listed company in its own right, Adsteam Marine established a strong investor following. In addition to towage, the company developed shipping agency and tug barging activities. Adsteam Marine Limited doubled its size in May 2001 when it acquired the towage interests of Howard Smith, its partner in many towage ventures, for more than A$500 million (US$246 million), making it the largest towage operator in Australia.
In 2006, it was acquired as the Pacific arm of the world's largest shipping company, AP Moeller-Maersk.
The Corporate Raider
After becoming chief executiveChief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of the Adelaide Steamship Company in 1977, John Spalvins
John Spalvins
John Spalvins, born Janis Gunnars Spalvins, 1936, in Latvia, was Managing Director of the Adelaide Steamship Company from 1977 until the company's collapse in 1991. During this period under Spalvins' control, "AdSteam" became Australia's major corporate entity with interests and significant...
built up one of Australia's largest industrial conglomerates and became one of the most feared takeover specialists in corporate Australia. Spalvins transformed himself into an entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, using vast amounts of debt to launch a series of massive takeovers. Adsteam "aggressively acquired significant shareholdings in a variety of companies in a number of fields including retailing, hotels, leisure industries and civil engineering." "Adsteam's share price rose dramatically through much of the 1980s and it was hailed by some commentators as being entrepreneurial, well managed and with a highly disciplined reporting system."
At its height, the Adsteam group included Woolworths, David Jones, brewer Tooth and Company, the Petersville Sleigh food group, the "Farmers Union
Farmers Union
Farmers Union is a brand name established by the South Australian Farmers' Co-operative Union Ltd .-Jamestown:At a meeting in Jamestown, South Australia on 28 February 1888, a committee formed to establish a grain "producers' union to combat the effects of depressed agricultural prices and the...
" dairy group, Metro Meat, a stable of premium wineries and many others. Also, at various stages, it held a 15% stake in Westpac
Westpac
Westpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....
, a 20% stake in Bell Resources Ltd
Robert Holmes à Court
Michael Robert Hamilton Holmes à Court was an entrepreneur who became Australia's first businessman worth over a billion dollars before dying suddenly of a heart attack in 1990.Holmes à Court was one of the world's most feared corporate raiders through the 1980s, having built his empire...
, and numerous other "strategic" stakes and investments. During this period of aggressive growth, AdSteam also had 156 tug boats and operated in over 40 Australian, Indian, Pacific Ocean and British ports. The company was Australia's fourth highest capitalised company during the 1980s.
Group structure
A characteristic of the AdSteam Group during this period was a complex Group Structure of cross-ownershipCross ownership
Cross ownership is a method of reinforcing business relationships by owning stock in the companies with which a given company does business. Heavy cross ownership is referred to as circular ownership....
where many of the companies of the group owned not-quite-50% of each other. This served the dual purposes of making the elements of the group "take-over proof", but did not trigger the financial reporting requirements of a consolidated set of accounts. In the 1990 Adelaide Steamship Company Annual Report, the following companies were reported as "Principal operating subsidiaries" of the AdSteam Group, with the following cross ownerships greater than 5%:
The Adelaide Steamship Company
- 100% Marine Interests (various)
- 100% Martin Wells Holdings Ltd - Optical Goods - acquired 1982.
- 100% Sellers Atkins Ltd - Building Supplies - acquired 1976.
- 100% Pioneer Property Group Ltd – House Building & Property Development
- 100% WA Realty Pty Ltd - Real Estate
- 49% David Jones LimitedDavid Jones LimitedDavid Jones Limited , colloquially known as DJs, is a high-end Australian department store chain.David Jones was founded in 1838 by David Jones, a Welsh immigrant, and is claimed to be the oldest continuously operating department store in the world still trading under its original name. It...
- Department stores and investments - 50% Metro Meat (Holdings) Ltd - Meat
- 14% Tooth and Co.Tooth and Co.Tooth and Co. was the major brewer of beer in New South Wales, Australia. The company owned a large brewery on Broadway in Sydney from 1835 until 1985, known as the Kent Brewery...
- (Brewing,) Hotels, Investments, Wine, Food - Acquired 1981. Brewing interests sold 1983 to Carlton and United Breweries. - 18% Petersville Sleigh LtdPetersvillePetersville Australia Limited was an Australian public company which specialized in food product manufacture, distribution and marketing until its takeover by Adelaide Steamship Company in the 1980s....
- Food, Timber, Woodchips, Mining, Distribution of Earthmoving Equipment, Shipping Agencies, Investments - Food product manufacture, distribution and marketing (sold to Pacific Dunlop). - 13% National Consolidated Ltd - Diversified Manufacturing and Marketing, Investments
- 33% Industrial Equity Ltd Food and Beverages, Energy and Resources, Manufacturing and Distribution, Propertey Services, Investments
- 18% AWA Ltd - Manufacturing & Installation of Electronics & Electrical Communications products
- 23% Macmahon Holdings Ltd - Civil Engineering, Leisure Industries
- 48% Markheath Securities PLC - Property Development, Manufacturing, Investment
David Jones Limited
David Jones Limited
David Jones Limited , colloquially known as DJs, is a high-end Australian department store chain.David Jones was founded in 1838 by David Jones, a Welsh immigrant, and is claimed to be the oldest continuously operating department store in the world still trading under its original name. It...
- 100% John Martin & Co.John Martin & Co.John Martin & Co. Ltd, colloquially known as John Martin's or simply Johnnies, was an Adelaide-based company which ran a popular chain of department stores in South Australia. It operated for more than 130 years, from 1866 until its closure in 1998...
- Department stores - Acquired 1985- John Martin Financial Services Limited
- John Martin Retailers Limited
- 44% The Adelaide Steamship Company
- 44% Tooth & Co Ltd - Hotels, Investments, Wine, Food
- 30% AAM Inc - Coal Handling, Office Supplies, Investments
- 33% Industrial Equity Ltd Food and Beverages, Energy and Resources, Manufacturing and Distribution, Propertey Services, Investments
Tooth and Co.
Tooth and Co.
Tooth and Co. was the major brewer of beer in New South Wales, Australia. The company owned a large brewery on Broadway in Sydney from 1835 until 1985, known as the Kent Brewery...
- 50% Metro Meat (Holdings) Ltd - Meat
- 33% Industrial Equity Ltd Food and Beverages, Energy and Resources, Manufacturing and Distribution, Propertey Services, Investments
- 18% National Consolidated Ltd - Diversified Manufacturing and Marketing, Investments
Petersville Sleigh Ltd
Petersville
Petersville Australia Limited was an Australian public company which specialized in food product manufacture, distribution and marketing until its takeover by Adelaide Steamship Company in the 1980s....
- 30% AAM Inc - Coal Handling, Office Supplies, Investments
- 51% Howard Smith Ltd - Shipping, Distribution, Heavy Engineering, Investments
National Consolidated Limited
- 20% David Jones Limited - Department stores and investments
- 10% Markheath Securities PLC - Property Development, Manufacturing, Investment
Howard Smith Ltd
- 7% Markheath Securities PLC
Industrial Equity Limited (IEL)
- 100% Woolworths Ltd - Retail
Other companies, acquisitions and disposals
Other companies, acquisitions and disposals in the group included:- Lockwood locks
- Buffum'sBuffum'sBuffum's was a chain of Long Beach, California-based department stores. Founded by brothers Charles Abel Buffum and Edwin E. Buffum in 1904, it grew slowly over the years to a total of 16 stores in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties at the time of its closure in 1990.Over the years, the...
- chain of Long Beach, California based department stores - Wineries, including PenfoldsPenfoldsPenfolds is an Australian wine producer, founded in 1844 by Christopher Rawson Penfold, an English physician who emigrated to Australia, and his wife, Mary Penfold...
, Wynns Coonawarra Estate, Seaview, Glenloth, Kaiser Stuhl, Barossa Co-op, Tulloch and Loxton Co-op, sold to SA Brewing holdings in 1990. Other wineries owned by group members at one time or another included Seppelts and Woodley Wines (IEL). - Bridgestone
- Farmers UnionFarmers UnionFarmers Union is a brand name established by the South Australian Farmers' Co-operative Union Ltd .-Jamestown:At a meeting in Jamestown, South Australia on 28 February 1888, a committee formed to establish a grain "producers' union to combat the effects of depressed agricultural prices and the...
- subsequently floated as part of National Foods - SAFCOL Food Processing - sold to Tropical Canning (Thailand) PLC
- Vaniro - for some reason not explained, Vaniro is not included in the 1990 Annual Report Group Structure diagram. It does, however, feature significantly in the State Bank audit report.
- Dextran Pty Ltd - like Vaniro, another AdSteam subsidiary. Dextran is the owner of IEL.
During the 1980s, AdSteam instigated a number of "Share plays", and also made significant investments in a number of companies including:
- ANZ Bank
- BHP
- Bell Resources
- Royal Insurance PLC
- National Australia Bank
- Westpac Bank
Borrowings
All of this was financed by huge borrowings from about 200 banks. For example, the lendings of just one bank, the State Bank of South Australia, are summarised in the following chart.The source of the above data, (SA Govt Auditor in 1993), in a comment dated 26 April 1990, states: "Papers also comment on "off the record" discussions with Adsteam Group's major bankers and gives exposures of nine banks (including the Bank) which total $4,960M. There is little comment on this figure but an analysis of each company's results shows assets exceed liabilities in each company by a good margin." A second comment states: 'Paper also comments on recent press issues including potential worst case losses of $110.0M from Bell Resources investment - "the impact of such a loss ..... is not considered a major concern" '
A subsequent comment dated 26 July 1990 states: 'Lending Credit Committee minute notes planned reduction in exposure through maturity of facilities. Also notes extension of other facilities to August 1991 which illustrates "the continued level of confidence this Bank held in Adsteam's continuity". With the benefit of hindsight, further comments make interesting reading. It is also interesting to note that despite the assurances recorded in the board papers, from that point in time the State Bank of South Australia steadily reduced its exposure to the AdSteam Group.
1990-1991
The opaque nature of the AdSteam Group caused rising concern in a variety of circles. Although shareholders continued to enjoy bonus shares, rights issues, and significant dividends, the share price plateaued. Financial journalists started asking questions, and the share price faultered. After the 1990 AGM and the announcement of the 25c dividend (per share) against a diminished share price, investor confidence deserted the company and the share price crashed from over $5 to under $1 in one day.The previously "nervous" banks were far from happy, and started demanding the return of their capital. Of course, AdSteam had this money invested, and did not have billions of dollars of liquid assets. Also of course, the banks were not keen to force AdSteam into bankruptcy as such a situation would be unlikely to achieve the return of their assets. Hence, AdSteam organised an "arrangement" with the 200 banks, and in 1991 the Adsteam group was placed under an informal, receivership-type scheme of arrangement. Under this arrangement, there was an orderly disposal of assets.
The aftermath
In order to facilitate the orderly disposal of assets, a number of the group members were renamed:- The Adelaide Steamship Company became The Residual Assco Group
- David Jones Limited became DJL LtdDavid Jones Limited changed name to DJL Limited on 16 October 1995 and was "delisted at entity's request" on 24 December 1999 (at the same time as Residual Assco.) A note at delisted.com.au dated 9 January 2003 states: "company is an unlisted public company and part of the Residual Assco Group (see further details there) - according to our information DJL no longer has any operating entities but is an investor in Residual Assco Group Limited (42.2%), Tooth & Co Limited (44.2%) and Dextran Pty Limited (1/3) which in turn owns Industrial Equity Limited."
- Metro Meat Holdings became Ortem Holdings
During the course of the disposal, there were a number of sales, and four very successful floats:
- National FoodsNational FoodsNational Foods is an Australian company and subsidiary of holding company Lion Nathan National Foods , wholly owned by the Japanese Kirin Holdings Company Limited, and consequently the Mitsubishi Group....
(1991) - Woolworths LimitedWoolworths LimitedWoolworths Limited is a major Australian company with extensive retail interest throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the:* largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales...
(1993) - David Jones LimitedDavid Jones LimitedDavid Jones Limited , colloquially known as DJs, is a high-end Australian department store chain.David Jones was founded in 1838 by David Jones, a Welsh immigrant, and is claimed to be the oldest continuously operating department store in the world still trading under its original name. It...
(1995) and - AdSteam Marine (1997)
Never-the-less, not all of the disposals were made under ideal circumstances, and Adsteam's loss of $4.49 billion represented one of Australia's largest corporate collapses.
However, the major lesson out of the AdSteam collapse was for the accounting profession; a newspaper report on its failure carried the sub-headline "Adsteam a humiliation for the accounting profession". "Adsteam was "an excellent instance of how the rule-book approach to consolidation accounting imposed by the law and the Accounting Standards at the time determined managerial actions" ".
The "Adsteam saga" resulted in major changes to Australian accounting rules pertaining to consolidation and led to the issue of AAS 24 Consolidated Financial Statements by the accounting profession in June 1990 for application from 30 June 1991 (subject to a "legal impediment", see Deegan, 2005, p. 880) and the issue of AASB 1024 Consolidated Accounts with statutory backing in 1991
Specifically, the definition of "control" for consolidation purposes was broadened beyond prescribed ownership interests to embrace control over an entity's financial and operating policies, making use of the notion of "substance over form" in determining the existence of a controlled entity.
The "AdSteam saga" also provided some lessons for banks and auditors. For example, the SA Govt Auditor produced a number of Case Studies - Volume 6 is titled "The Management of Credit: Case Studies", and Chapter 9 is titled "Case Study in Credit Management: The AdSteam Group". The opening sentence states: "The exposure to the Adelaide Steamship Company Limited Group of Companies was complex.", and if your interests lie in those directions, makes fascinating reading.
Industrial Equity Ltd
Several matters from the collapse are still ongoing - over 15 years after "the collapse". Industrial Equity Ltd (IEL) is worthy of particular mention:- IEL acquired Woolworths LimitedWoolworths LimitedWoolworths Limited is a major Australian company with extensive retail interest throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the:* largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales...
in 1989 as a wholly owned subsidiary - AdSteam investment company Dextran purchased IEL from Brierley Investments Ltd (BIL) in November 1989
- Dextran was one-third each owned by AdSteam, David Jones & Tooth
- IEL delisted in 1990.
- Woolworths floated in 1993 - very successfully - "it was floated in the biggest share sale (at that time) in Australia's history"
- The Australian Taxation OfficeAustralian Taxation OfficeThe Australian Taxation Office is an Australian Government statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for the Australian Government. The ATO has responsibility for administering the Australian federal taxation system and superannuation legislation...
(ATO) ruled to disallow IEL $524m of deductions - IEL challenged this ruling - the matter has been before the courts on and off ever since - "One of the largest and longest tax disputes in Australian history."
- In December 2007, IEL was given leave to challenge the ATO ruling
- "While prime assets such as Woolworths and Adsteam Marine were floated, IEL and its tax liabilities remained within the corporate shell of Adelaide Steamship when it was renamed Residual Assco Group Ltd in 1997 and delisted in 1999. Residual Assco has no operating businesses but remains active while several IEL tax disputes wind their way through the courts."
- Residual Assco's October 2007 annual report notes that the group holds $429 million "on deposit pending resolution of the outstanding matters between IEL and the ATO". At that time, the ATO were claiming $7.3 billion.
- The dispute continues; the Chairman's address to the concurrent AGMs of Residual Assco, DJL and Tooth on 14 November 2008 is rather bleak. The Tooth & Co. Ltd. Annual Financial Report to 30 June 2008 summarises the then current situation in detail.
- Other sources of information include: "The Three Ugly Sisters", Australian Financial Review, 24 December 1999 and Tooth and Co.#The three ugly sisters.
Court cases
The Adelaide Steamship Company was involved in two court cases which led to changes in the way the Australian ConstitutionConstitution of Australia
The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia...
and Australian Law is interpreted.
The "Engineers' Case"
"Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd.Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd.
Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd 28 CLR 129 was a landmark Australian court case decided in the High Court of Australia on 31 August 1920...
(1920) 28 CLR
Commonwealth Law Reports
The Commonwealth Law Reports are the authorised reports of decisions of the High Court of Australia. The CLR are published by the Lawbook Company, a division of Thomson Reuters...
129" (commonly known as the Engineers' Case) was a landmark Australian court case decided in the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
on 31 August 1920. From a legal perspective, this case is widely regarded as one of the most important cases ever decided by the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
, for it swept away the earlier doctrines of implied intergovernmental immunities and reserved State powers
Reserved State powers
The reserved country powers, also called reserved powers, is a doctrine reserved exclusively for the states, that is used in the interpretation of the Constitution of Australia. It adopted a restrictive approach to the interpretation of the specific powers of the Federal Parliament in order to...
, firmly establishing the modern basis for the legal understanding of federalism
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
in Australia and Australian constitutional law
Australian constitutional law
Australian constitutional law is the area of the law of Australia relating to the interpretation and application of the Constitution of Australia. Several major doctrines of Australian constitutional law have developed....
. In essence, this meant that decisions of the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Court were binding on State governments. and that the constitution is no longer read in a way which attempts to preserve the power of the states.
When providing his judgement on Strickland v Rocla Concrete Pipes Ltd
Strickland v Rocla Concrete Pipes Ltd
Strickland v Rocla Concrete Pipes Ltd 124 CLR 468, also known as the Concrete Pipes Case, is a High Court of Australia case that discusses the scope of the corporations power in section 51 of the Australian Constitution...
, (where the Court unanimously rejected the decision in Huddart, Parker & Co Pty Ltd v Moorehead, holding that it was based on the rejected doctrine of reserved State powers, which was abolished in Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd.), Justice Barwick stated "the earlier doctrine virtually reversed the Constitution".
ASIC vs former AdSteam directors and auditors
"Residual Assco and Australian Securities and Investments CommissionAustralian Securities and Investments Commission
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission is an independent Australian government body that acts as Australia's corporate regulator...
(ASIC) vs former AdSteam directors and auditors.
- The litigationLawsuitA lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
was commenced by ASIC in April 1994 under section 50 of the ASC Law, in the name of the Adelaide Steamship Company (renamed Residual Assco. in 1997) and dragged on, unresolved, for 6 years before a settlement was agreed. - The essential allegation was that there had been an overstatement of profit in the company's accounts and that its investments in 4 subsidiary companies had not been accurately recorded. As a result dividends had not been paid out of profits.
- The terms of settlement provide for some unique and important regulatory outcomes, including:
- In May 1994 proceedings were brought by Deloitte under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act challenging ASIC's decision to begin and carry on the Adsteam proceedings. The ADJR proceedings took approximately two and a half years to be finally determined. ASIC's decision was ultimately upheld.
- "The Adelaide Steamship Co Limited and Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Janis Gunars Spalvins, Michael James Kent, Neil Leslie Branford, Kenneth William Russell, Michael Stevenson Gregg, Deloitte Haskings & Sells and Deloitte Ross Tohmatsu", more concisely referred to as "Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd v Spalvins (1998) 152 ALRAustralian Law ReportsThe Australian Law Reports are an unauthorised series of law reports which report cases from the High Court of Australia, Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Courts of the states and territories exercising federal jurisdiction. After each authorised series they are the most often cited...
418"Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd & Anor v Janis Gunars Spalvins & Ors [1998] FCA 144 (2 March 1998). Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved on 1 July 2009. This was in fact an appeal by Spalvins et al. against an earlier ruling in favour of ASIC regarding client legal privilege. The appeal was upheld and ASIC were required to produce the documents previously ruled as privileged. - In June 1999 the High Court held that the constitution did not allow State judicial power to be vested in the Federal Court (Re Wakim). As a result, the Adsteam proceedings, which had been brought in the Federal Court, could not proceed because the Federal Court did not have jurisdiction to hear them.
- Following the introduction of the Federal Courts (State Jurisdiction) Act (SA) 1999, which was intended to address some of the effects of the decision in Re Wakim, an application was made in the Supreme Court of South Australia effectively to have the Adsteam proceeding transferred to that Court. The validity of the relevant provisions of the Federal Courts (State Jurisdiction) Act was challenged by some of the defendant directors. On 25 May 2000 the High Court upheld the validity of section 11 of that Act. (The application to have the matter transferred was still pending before the Supreme Court of South Australia at the time of the settlement.)
Timeline
- 1875 Company formed September 1875
- 1875 Company incorporated 8 October 1875
- 1882 Amalgamated with Spencer's Gulf Steamship Co. Ltd.
- 1882 Bought out William Whinham.
- 1883 Bought out Anderson & Marshall
- 1887 Locks out members of the Captains & Officers' Society when it seeks to affiliate with the Maritime Labour Council
- 1900 Liquidated and reconstructed
- 1903 Adelaide building at 17 Currie Street (Images: 1234)
- 1904 Adelaide Steamship Company building constructed in Melbourne
- 1911 SS YongalaSS YongalaThe passenger ship SS Yongala sank off Cape Bowling Green, Queensland, Australia on 23 March 1911. En route from Melbourne to Cairns she steamed into a cyclone and sank south of Townsville...
lost without trace (discovered in 1958) - 1914-1918 World War I - several ships were requisitioned
- 1915 Took over Coast Steamships Limited
- 1920 Liquidated and reconstructed
- 1920 "Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd.Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd.Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd 28 CLR 129 was a landmark Australian court case decided in the High Court of Australia on 31 August 1920...
" (The Engineers' Case) - 1933 First John Martin's Christmas Pageant
- 1935 Formed Adelaide Airways Ltd.
- 1936 Purchased West Australian AirwaysWest Australian AirwaysWest Australian Airways was an Australian airline based out of Geraldton, Western Australia. Established on 5 December 1921 as Western Australian Airways by World War I pilot Norman Brearley it was the first airline in Australian history to establish a scheduled air service. The first service left...
- 1936 Merged with Holyman's Airways Pty. Ltd. to form Australian National AirwaysAustralian National AirwaysAustralian National Airways was Australia's predominant carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s.-The Holyman Airways Period:On 19 March 1932 Flinders Island Airways began a regular aerial service using the Desoutter Mk.II VH-UEE Miss Launceston between Launceston, Tasmania and Flinders...
Pty. Ltd. (ANA) - 1939 Currie St (Adelaide) building changed significantly (Images: 12)
- 1939-1945 World War II - several ships were requisitioned
- 1940s Diversified into towage, shipbuilding, and the shipping of salt, coal and sugar.
- 1957 Sold Australian National Airways Pty. Ltd. to Reg AnsettReg AnsettSir Reginald Myles "Reg" Ansett KBE was an Australian businessman and aviator; best known for founding Ansett Transport Industries Limited, which owned one of Australia's two leading domestic airlines between 1957 and 2001...
- 1964 Interstate fleet merged with McIlwraith McEacharn LtdMalcolm McEacharnSir Malcolm Donald McEacharn was Mayor of Melbourne from 1897 to 1900. He was a well-known Australian shipping magnate in the early part of the twentieth century and successfully stood for the Division of Melbourne at the inaugural federal election, held in 1901.- Early life :McEacharn was born in...
to form Associated Steamships Ltd - 1964 The world's first purpose-built container ship was constructed.
- 1965 Acquired 40% interest in Bulkships Ltd
- 1968 Coast Steamships Limited no longer "retained its own identity"
- 1968 Bulkships Ltd acquired Associated Steamship Ltd
- 1976 Tooth & Co acquired PenfoldsPenfoldsPenfolds is an Australian wine producer, founded in 1844 by Christopher Rawson Penfold, an English physician who emigrated to Australia, and his wife, Mary Penfold...
- 1977 Bulkships Ltd sold; ceased connection with ship owning and operating
- 1980 Acquired a substantial interest in David Jones LimitedDavid Jones LimitedDavid Jones Limited , colloquially known as DJs, is a high-end Australian department store chain.David Jones was founded in 1838 by David Jones, a Welsh immigrant, and is claimed to be the oldest continuously operating department store in the world still trading under its original name. It...
- 1980 Adelaide Steamship Company building in Melbourne destroyed
- 1981 Acquired Tooth & Co (via David Jones (Properties) Pty Ltd)
- 1981 Acquired Georges (via David Jones)
- 1982 Acquired Buckley & NunnBuckley & NunnThe Melbourne department store of Buckley & Nunn first opened its doors in 1851 as a drapery store and, in its heyday, competed creditably with David Jones and Myer . It occupied a succession of buildings in Bourke Street until being taken over by David Jones in 1982.Popular as a retailer of...
(via David Jones) - 1983 Sold Tooth & Co brewing interests to Carlton and United Breweries
- 1985 Acquired John Martins
- 1989 Industrial Equity Ltd (IEL) purchased from Brierley Investments Ltd (BIL)
- 1990 Wine interests sold to SA Brewing Holdings
- 1990 Share price crash
- 1991 AdSteam commenced liquidation of assets
- 1991 National FoodsNational FoodsNational Foods is an Australian company and subsidiary of holding company Lion Nathan National Foods , wholly owned by the Japanese Kirin Holdings Company Limited, and consequently the Mitsubishi Group....
floated - 1993 WoolworthsWoolworths LimitedWoolworths Limited is a major Australian company with extensive retail interest throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the:* largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales...
floated - 1994 The Australian Taxation OfficeAustralian Taxation OfficeThe Australian Taxation Office is an Australian Government statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for the Australian Government. The ATO has responsibility for administering the Australian federal taxation system and superannuation legislation...
(ATO) ruled to disallow IEL $524m of deductions regarding the Woolworth float - 1994 "Adelaide Steamship Company (via ASIC) vs former AdSteam directors and auditors" commenced
- 1995 David Jones floated
- 1997 Adelaide Steamship Company renamed to Residual Assco Group
- 1997 AdSteam Marine floated
- 1999 Liquidation of assets completed - Residual Assco Ltd delisted - "Residual Assco has no operating businesses but remains active while several IEL tax disputes wind their way through the courts."
- 2000 "Residual Assco (via ASIC) vs former AdSteam directors and auditors" reached settlement
- 2001 AdSteam Marine acquired Howard Smith for A$500m
- 2006 AdSteam Marine acquired by AP Moeller-Maersk
- 2007 Residual Assco's annual report notes that the group holds $429 million "on deposit pending resolution of the outstanding matters between IEL and the ATO"
- 2007 IEL given leave to challenge the ATO ruling
People
Throughout its history, many people have been involved with, played significant roles in and/or been associated with the company:- Robert Barr SmithRobert Barr SmithRobert Barr Smith was an Australian businessman and philanthropist.Smith was born at Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, Scotland, the son of the Rev...
(1824–1915) - Founding director. Brother-in-law of founding director Sir Thomas ElderThomas ElderSir Thomas Elder GCMG was a Scottish-Australian pastoralist, highly successful businessman, philanthropist, politician, race-horse owner and breeder and public figure...
, with whom he was partner in Elder Smith and CompanyElders LimitedElders Limited is an Australian based agribusiness company.It was founded in 1839 in South Australia by Alexander Lang Elder as a new arm of his family's Scottish based merchant and shipping business. Its core business was a trading company and commission agent for wool and other agricultural...
. (Barr Smith married Elder's sister Joanna). - Tom Elder Barr SmithTom Elder Barr SmithThomas Elder Barr Smith was a South Australian pastoralist and philanthropist, and the son of Robert Barr Smith.In 1917 his estate was subdivided to form the Adelaide suburb of Torrens Park....
(1863–1941) - director (eldest son of Robert Barr Smith) - Sir Tom Elder Barr SmithTom Elder Barr SmithThomas Elder Barr Smith was a South Australian pastoralist and philanthropist, and the son of Robert Barr Smith.In 1917 his estate was subdivided to form the Adelaide suburb of Torrens Park....
(1904–1968) - director and deputy chairman (1960–1968) (son of Tom Elder Barr Smith) - William Beardmore, 1st Baron InvernairnWilliam Beardmore, 1st Baron InvernairnWilliam Beardmore, 1st Baron Invernairn , known as Sir William Beardmore, Bt, between 1914 and 1921, was an Anglo-Scottish industrialist, founding the eponymous William Beardmore and Company.-Background and education:...
(1856–1936) - shipbuilder. - William BerryWilliam BerryWilliam Berry may refer to:* William Berry , First Settler of Hampton, New Hampshire* William Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose , British newspaper publisher* William Berry...
(1857–1928) - completed his qualifying sea service with the company and went on to become their chief engineer. - Neil Leslie Branford - Chief Accountant of John Martins, AdSteam Company SecretaryCompany secretaryA company secretary is a senior position in a private company or public organisation, normally in the form of a managerial position or above. In the United States it is known as a corporate secretary....
from mid 1980s to early 1990s - Sir Ron BrierleyRon BrierleySir Ronald Alfred "Ron" Brierley is a New Zealand investor and corporate raider, chairman and director of a number of companies in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. He founded "R. A. Brierley Investments" in March 1961 with no capital...
- New Zealand investor, corporate raider, and chairman and director of a number of companies in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. He founded Brierley Investments Limited (BIL) in 1961 and purchased his first shareholdings in Industrial Equity Limited (IEL) in 1964. IEL purchased Woolworths in 1989, and later in 1989 Brierly sold IEL to the AdSteam Group. - George Calder (1839–1903) - mariner
- David CharlestonDavid CharlestonDavid Morley Charleston was an Cornish-born Australian politician. Born in Cornwall, he received a primary education before becoming an apprentice engineer, and later an engineering unionist and marine engineer...
(1848–1934) - a marine engineer and unionistTrade unionA trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
who worked for the company after migrating to Australia in 1884. - Bruce Corlett - Chairman of Adsteam Marine Limited.
- Charles D'EbroCharles D'EbroCharles Abraham D'Ebro was a London-born architect who designed many important buildings in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia during the late Victorian and early Edwardian periods...
(1850–1920) - Architect who in 1904 designed the Adelaide Steamship Building in Melbourne. - Deloitte Haskings & Sells and Deloitte Ross Tohmatsu - AdSteam auditors (?-1990)
- Frank DuffyFrank Gavan DuffySir Frank Gavan Duffy, KCMG, PC, QC , Australian judge, was the fourth Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, sitting on the bench of the High Court from 1913 to 1935.-Early life:...
(1852–1936) - High Court Judge involved in the decision of the Engineers' Case. - Sir Walter Gordon Duncan (1885–1963) - Director between 1932 and 1960.
- Don DunstanDon DunstanDonald Allan "Don" Dunstan, AC, QC was a South Australian politician. He entered politics as the Member for Norwood in 1953, became state Labor leader in 1967, and was Premier of South Australia between June 1967 and April 1968, and again between June 1970 and February 1979.The son of a business...
's father - Manager of the company's FijiFijiFiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
office from 1916 until the family's more to Adelaide in 1933. - Sir Thomas ElderThomas ElderSir Thomas Elder GCMG was a Scottish-Australian pastoralist, highly successful businessman, philanthropist, politician, race-horse owner and breeder and public figure...
(1818–1897) - Founding director. Brother-in-law of founding director Robert Barr SmithRobert Barr SmithRobert Barr Smith was an Australian businessman and philanthropist.Smith was born at Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, Scotland, the son of the Rev...
, with whom he was partner in Elder Smith and CompanyElders LimitedElders Limited is an Australian based agribusiness company.It was founded in 1839 in South Australia by Alexander Lang Elder as a new arm of his family's Scottish based merchant and shipping business. Its core business was a trading company and commission agent for wool and other agricultural...
. Elder never married, but Barr Smith named his first-born Tom Elder Barr SmithTom Elder Barr SmithThomas Elder Barr Smith was a South Australian pastoralist and philanthropist, and the son of Robert Barr Smith.In 1917 his estate was subdivided to form the Adelaide suburb of Torrens Park....
. - Alexander ForrestAlexander ForrestAlexander Forrest CMG, was an explorer and surveyor of Western Australia, as well as a politician.-Early life:Forrest was born at Picton, near Bunbury in Western Australia, the son of William and Margaret Forrest...
(1849–1901) - negotiated in 1893 the contract with the Adelaide Steamship for serving Western Australian ports. - James Gosse (1876–1952) - director and chairman.
- Michael Stevenson Gregg - director (?-1990)
- Robert Holmes à CourtRobert Holmes à CourtMichael Robert Hamilton Holmes à Court was an entrepreneur who became Australia's first businessman worth over a billion dollars before dying suddenly of a heart attack in 1990.Holmes à Court was one of the world's most feared corporate raiders through the 1980s, having built his empire...
- Australia's first billionaire was also a feared corporate raider of the 1980s who set up Bell Resources, a company 20% owned by the AdSteam Group. - Sir Ivan Nello Holyman (1896–1957) - merged Holymany's Airways with AdSteam's Adelaide Airways in 1936, and initiated moves which led in November 1936 to the formation of Australian National AirwaysAustralian National AirwaysAustralian National Airways was Australia's predominant carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s.-The Holyman Airways Period:On 19 March 1932 Flinders Island Airways began a regular aerial service using the Desoutter Mk.II VH-UEE Miss Launceston between Launceston, Tasmania and Flinders...
. - Henry KeepHenry KeepHenry Frederick Keep was a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1894 to 1897.The son of farmer Adam Corrie Keep, Henry Keep was born in Wollaston, Northamptonshire, England on 27 January 1863, and named, according to his birth certificate, Henry Francis Keep...
(1863–1905) - shipping agent for AdSteam in Fremantle between 1893-1897. - Michael James Kent - director (?-1990)
- Herbert Lloyd (1883–1957) - board-member of several companies, including the Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd between, 1946 and his retirement.
- George R L Macdonald - company secretaryCompany secretaryA company secretary is a senior position in a private company or public organisation, normally in the form of a managerial position or above. In the United States it is known as a corporate secretary....
(1990–1994) and corporate lawyer - Malcolm McEacharnMalcolm McEacharnSir Malcolm Donald McEacharn was Mayor of Melbourne from 1897 to 1900. He was a well-known Australian shipping magnate in the early part of the twentieth century and successfully stood for the Division of Melbourne at the inaugural federal election, held in 1901.- Early life :McEacharn was born in...
(1852–1910) - shipowner and partner of McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co which merged with the Adelaide Steamship Co in 1964. - Andrew McIlwraith (1844–1932) - shipowner and partner of McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co which merged with the Adelaide Steamship Co in 1964.
- Hugo Muecke (1842–1929) - Director of many companies, including the Adelaide Steamship.
- Guy Packard (1884–1963) - Manager and later Director. Also had financial interests in Australian National Airways.
- Daniel PooleDaniel PooleDaniel Poole DCM & Bar was a seaman and soldier of the Australian Army. On 15 April 1917, during the battle of Lagnicourt, Poole collected a party of men and led them forward under heavy fire, killing nine enemy and capturing fifteen prisoners...
DCMDistinguished Conduct MedalThe Distinguished Conduct Medal was an extremely high level award for bravery. It was a second level military decoration awarded to other ranks of the British Army and formerly also to non-commissioned personnel of other Commonwealth countries.The medal was instituted in 1854, during the Crimean...
& BarMedal barA medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal. It is most commonly used to indicate the campaign or operation the recipient received the award for, and multiple bars on the same medal are used to indicate that the...
(1882–1959) - recommended for the VCVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
during World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Worked for both McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co and Adelaide Steamship Company. - Robert Dalrymple RossRobert Dalrymple RossSir Robert Dalrymple Ross was an army officer, politician and businessman.He was born at St Vincent in the West Indies, son of John Pemberton Ross, Speaker of the House of Assembly at St Vincent, and his wife, the only daughter of Dr Alexander Anderson...
(1827–1887) - Chairman of the company during the 1870s and 1880s. - Ken Russell (Kenneth William Russell, ?-1999) - Chairman (?-1990)
- David J Ryan - held various senior positions in the company from 1997 to 2002, and was the foundation Managing Director of Adsteam Marine Limited.
- Charles Seymour (1853–1924) - Seaman, journalist and militant unionist who worked for the company in the late 1800s.
- John SpalvinsJohn SpalvinsJohn Spalvins, born Janis Gunnars Spalvins, 1936, in Latvia, was Managing Director of the Adelaide Steamship Company from 1977 until the company's collapse in 1991. During this period under Spalvins' control, "AdSteam" became Australia's major corporate entity with interests and significant...
(Janis Gunars Spalvins) - Managing Director (1977–1990) - Andrew TennantAndrew Tennant (pastoralist)Andrew Tennant was a Scottish-born Australian pastoralist, businessman and politician.-Early years:Andrew was born on 20 June 1835 at Hawick, Roxburghshire, Scotland, to John Tennant and his wife Jessie Aitken...
(1835–1913) - founding director. - Robert Wright - executive director 1991 to 1995
Further reading
Shipping- Mann, J.W. (1965). Well afloat in changing time [Adelaide Steamship Co.], Port Melbourne Quarterly, V.16, April–June 1965.
- Page, Michael (1975). Fitted for the voyage: the Adelaide Steamship Company, 1875-1975. Published by Rigby, Adelaide SA. ISBN 0851799186.
- Parsons, Ronald (1975). The Adelaide Line: A Centenary History of the Adelaide Steamship Company Ltd., 1875-1975. Published by rhParsons, Magill, SA. . ISBN 0909418063.
- Stapleton, A. (1975). "Festina Lente": the Adelaide Steamship Company's 100 years of service, Cargo Handling and Shipbuilding Quarterly, V.14, September 1975 .
Australian corporate governance
- Clarke, Frank and Graeme Dean (2007). Indecent Disclosure: Gilding the Corporate Lily. Published by Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521701839.
External links
- Australian Light Horse Studies Centre
- His Majesty's Australian Transports HMAT Ships, Transporting the 1st AIF.