ARGENTINA Law and Practice Contributed by: María Belén Espiñeira, Espiñeira Maritime Lawyers
in the event that the goods have not been loaded onto the ship, from the date on which the ship departed, or should have departed, from the port of loading. Par - ties are allowed to agree on an extension to the time bar, provided that such agreement is reached after the damage, or the cause of the damage, occurred. 5. Maritime Liens and Ship Arrests 5.1 Ship Arrests Argentina is neither a party to the Brussels Conven - tion for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to the Arrest of Sea-Going Ships, 1952, nor to the Interna - tional Convention on Arrest of Ships, 1999. Ship arrests are governed by the Argentine Navigation Law, which provides that Argentine vessels can be • to grant a debt incurred by the Master, owner or disponent owner of the vessel in connection with her use, navigation and exploitation (in the port of the jurisdiction where the ship-owner is domiciled or has its principal establishment). Furthermore, it sets forth that foreign vessels can be arrested and prohibited from sailing in the following cases: • to grant a maritime lien; • to grant a credit accrued in the Argentine ter - ritory for the use of a vessel, or a sister vessel of the same, belonging to the same ownership when bringing actions of arrest or when the credit accrued; and • to grant a credit, connected or not with the use of the vessel, which is capable of being claimed by the creditor before Argentine courts, which should be competent to hear the case. 5.2 Maritime Liens Under Argentine law, the following claims are consid - ered maritime liens and may entitle claimants to arrest a vessel and collect their credit with preference over other creditors: arrested in the following cases: • to grant a maritime lien; and
• judicial and legal costs incurred for the common interest of creditors for the maintenance of the ship, for her judicial sale, and for the distribution of the sums obtained from the sale of the vessel among the creditors; • claims for wages and other sums due to the Mas - ter, officers and other members of crew result - ing from employment contracts, labour laws and agreements signed with unions; • claims arising from shipbuilding contracts; • taxes, duties, contributions and others resulting from the navigation or the commercial exploitation of the vessel; • claims resulting from death or personal injury that occurred on board or ashore, in connection with the operation of the vessel; • claims for tortious acts against the owner, the disponent owner or the vessel resulting from the operation of the vessel; • claims for salvage reward, wreck removal expenses and general average contributions; • claims for damage or loss caused to the cargo or goods on board; • claims resulting from charterparty disputes or from the execution of contracts of carriage; • claims resulting from supplies or other necessaries for the vessel’s operation, maintenance or service; • credits for the construction, repair or equipment of the vessel and for dock expenses; • claims arising from disbursements made by the Master, shippers, charterers or agents on behalf of the vessel or her owner; and • claims for the last purchase price of the vessel and the interest accrued during the last two years. 5.3 Liability in Personam for Owners or Demise Charterers Depending on the case, in Argentina, a vessel could be arrested regardless of her owner’s personal liability on the merits constituting a recognised maritime lien, for debts incurred by the demise charterer. 5.4 Unpaid Bunkers The supply of bunkers or other necessaries gives rise to a maritime lien, and thus gives a right to arrest the ship irrespective of whether it was ordered by the charterer or the owner.
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