ANGOLA Law and Practice Contributed by: José Miguel Oliveira, António Caxito Marques, Caio de Mello Ferreira and João Saiago Canjeque, VdA
Upon registration with the Commercial Registry Office, the mortgages must be endorsed in the passports of the vessel(s) (deeds, ownership certificate issued by the NMA). Such endorsement is made for publicity purposes – ie, it is not a condition of the effectiveness/ validity of the underlying mortgage or of its enforce - ment. 1.7 Ship Ownership and Mortgages Registry The registry of ownership of a vessel is, in theory, public. Any individual may approach the NMA or the Commercial Registry Office in order to obtain infor - mation on the ownership of a vessel. Moreover, pur - suant to Law 11/21 and Presidential Decree 114/21, the mortgage registry is available to the public and may be consulted by any person upon submission of a consultation request to the Central Security Reg - istry. The consultation request must be submitted in accordance with the form made available on the online platform. Angola has a nascent ship finance market, with debt transactions typically led by foreign lenders that apply international ship loan market standards. The Ango - lan nexus arises primarily at the level of the security package over Angolan-flagged vessels. As a result, the most common transaction structures involve cross-border loan facilities governed by foreign law, combined with local Angolan security instruments to perfect rights over the ship and related receivables. For ship mortgages on Angolan-flagged and regis - tered vessels, Angolan law is mandatory, and local perfection of the mortgage is essential (please refer to 1.6 Registration of Mortgages for details on the exe - cution and registration process). Information regarding ship security interests is intended to be centralised in the Central Register of Movable Guarantees ( Central de Registo de Garantias Mobiliárias ) established under Law 11/21 and Presidential Decree 114/21. This reg - ister aims to publicise all movable security interests, including those over ships, and serves as the basis for establishing registration priority. However, it is important to note that the Central Register of Movable 2. Ship Finance and Leasing 2.1 Ship Loan Finance
Guarantees has not yet been fully implemented. As part of Angola’s modernisation of the movable secu - rity regime, extrajudicial enforcement (appropriation or direct sale) is permitted if expressly agreed by the par - ties, providing an alternative to judicial enforcement. In addition to ship mortgages, lenders may seek a comprehensive, international-style security package, including assignments of insurances and material charters/earnings, in line with market practice. Per - fection and publicity for these ancillary securities are achieved pursuant to the movable guarantees frame - work, with registration required for ships and certain receivables. 2.2 Ship Leasing Angola’s ship finance industry remains nascent, with limited transaction volumes and no discernible shift towards leasing. Deals typically take the form of tra - ditional cross-border bank loans under international standards, anchored by Angolan-law ship mortgages. Leasing arrangements, including sale-and-leaseback structures, are not yet common, and many vessel acquisitions are state-led, primarily for public-service ferries and cargo operations. 3. Marine Casualties and Owners’ Liability 3.1 International Conventions: Pollution and Wreck Removal The following international conventions and domestic laws are enforceable in Angola. Pollution • The 1969 International Convention Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollu - tion Casualties, as amended in 1973 and 1991. • The 1973 International Convention for the Preven - tion of Pollution from Ships and Annexes I/II, III, IV and V. • The 1990 International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation. • The 1992 Protocol to amend the 1969 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Dam - age.
17 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook