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 mari - time authority in Colombia, and was originally established under the name of the General Maritime and Ports Directorate ( Dirección Gen- eral Marítima y Portuaria ) through Decree 2349 of 1971. The entity was subsequently reorgan - ised 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 exercises port state control in practice, and exe - cutes the maritime sector policy designed by the Colombian 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 accidents (collisions, ground - ings, 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 admi - ralty/maritime jurisdiction in Colombia. Thus, so-called wet shipping situations (collisions, groundings, etc) are dealt with by the DIMAR, as previously described; whereas contrac - tual 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 Agree - ment, under which the DIMAR is to exercise port state control, following general parameters set out by the International 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 issuance of Law 2133 of 2021, which pur - ports 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 ves - sels 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 own - ership of vessels in Colombia. Even though Article 1458 of the Colombian Commercial Code originally established that only Colombian nationals were able to own commercial vessels registered under the Colombian flag, this provi - sion was considered to be inapplicable by the Council of State. However, Law 2133 of 2021 establishes that contracts for the construction of vessels 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 doc - umentation is provided, as described in Article 17). In accordance with Article 18, the certifica -
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