Shipping 2026

COLOMBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Javier Franco, Franco & Abogados Asociados

1. Maritime and Shipping Legislation and Regulation 1.1 Domestic Laws Establishing the Authorities of the Maritime and Shipping Courts The General Maritime Directorate ( Dirección General Marítima – DIMAR) is the national maritime author - ity in Colombia, and was originally established under the name of the General Maritime and Ports Directo - rate ( Dirección General Marítima y Portuaria ) through Decree 2349 of 1971. The entity was subsequently reorganised through Decree 2324 of 1984 and has since maintained the basic structure provided by that regulation (which is still mainly in force). The DIMAR is therefore the local authority that exer - cises port state control in practice, and executes the maritime sector policy designed by the Colom - bian government. As per Decree 2324 of 1984, the DIMAR is also entitled to investigate any maritime casualties occurring in Colombian waters, and has specific jurisdictional functions regarding such acci - dents (collisions, groundings, etc). Its powers entitle harbour masters of each respective jurisdiction in the first instance, and the Central Level in the second instance, to determine the causes of the event and the liability of the vessels/persons involved. It should be noted that there is no proper admiralty/ maritime jurisdiction in Colombia. Thus, so-called wet shipping situations (collisions, groundings, etc) are dealt with by the DIMAR, as previously described; whereas contractual claims (mainly bill-of-lading claims and/or charterparty-related claims) are to be handled, if required, by the regular civil courts. 1.2 Port State Control Colombia is a party to the Viña del Mar Agreement, under which the DIMAR is to exercise port state con - trol, following general parameters set out by the Inter - national Maritime Organization (IMO) for that purpose. 1.3 Domestic Legislation Applicable to Ship Registration The procedure for the registration of vessels at the domestic level was recently modified with the issu - ance of Law 2133 of 2021, which purports to make

the country more interesting for international owners that may consider South American jurisdictions for registering ships. The new unified or “unique” national registry of vessels is kept in the country by the DIMAR. One of the most salient features of the new legislation is that a public deed will no longer be required for entering vessels under the Colombian flag. 1.4 Requirements for Ownership of Vessels There are no specific requirements for the ownership of vessels in Colombia. Even though Article 1458 of the Colombian Commercial Code originally estab - lished that only Colombian nationals were able to own commercial vessels registered under the Colombian flag, this provision was considered to be inapplicable by the Council of State. However, Law 2133 of 2021 establishes that contracts for the construction of ves - sels are to be registered in the Colombian “unique” registry. 1.5 Temporary Registration of Vessels Temporary or “provisional” registration (as it is called in Colombia) was recently modified by Law 2133 of 2021, with the aim of making the procedure much faster (three days after full documentation is provided, as described in Article 17). In accordance with Article 18, the certification of provisional registry will be valid for just six months. As per Article 10 of Law 2133 of 2021, dual registration is permitted (using the so- called provisional registration) only while procedures for cancellation of the original flag in a different state are carried out and the respective certificate of can - cellation is provided. 1.6 Registration of Mortgages The registration of mortgages on vessels is dealt with in Colombia by the DIMAR. As per Article 3 of Decision 487 of 2000 of the Andean Community of Nations, such a mortgage is to be created by means of a pub - lic deed and is to be registered in the respective ship registry in order to enable the effects contemplated in the international instrument. Article 5 of Decision 487 expressly provides details of what the public deed should contain for this purpose (the basic data of the creditor and the debtor, details about the amount of the debt that is to be guaranteed with the mortgage, etc).

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