Shipping 2025

ARGENTINA Law and Practice Contributed by: María Belén Espiñeira, International Transport & Logistics Legal Consultants – MB Espiñeira & Abogados

guaranteed to carriers the accuracy of the par - ticulars of the cargo as inserted by them in the shipping instructions or the declaration of cargo for shipment. Therefore, carriers could bring a claim against shippers, if their failure to describe the cargo accurately causes damage to them or makes them incur liability before third parties. 3.5 Time Bar for Filing Claims for Damaged or Lost Cargo Under Argentine legislation, the time limit for car - go claims under the contract of carriage is one year from the unloading of the cargo; or, in the event that the goods were not discharged from the ship, from the date on which they should have been discharged; or, in the event that the goods have not been loaded on to the ship, from the date on which the ship departed, or should have departed, from the port of loading. Parties 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. 4. Maritime Liens and Ship Arrests 4.1 Ship Arrests Argentina is neither a party to the Brussels Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to the Arrest of Sea-Going Ships, 1952, nor to the International Convention on Arrest of Ships, 1999. Ship arrests are governed by the Argentine Navi - gation Law, which provides that Argentine ves - sels can be arrested in the following cases: • to grant a maritime lien; and • to grant a debt incurred by the Master, owner or disponent owner of the vessel in connec - tion with her use, navigation and exploita -

tion (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 owner - ship 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. 4.2 Maritime Liens Under Argentine law, the following claims are considered maritime liens and may entitle claim - ants to arrest a vessel and collect their credit with preference over other creditors: • judicial and legal costs incurred for the com - mon 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 Master, officers and other members of crew resulting from employment contracts, labour laws and agreements signed with unions; • claims arising from shipbuilding contracts; • taxes, duties, contributions and others result - ing from the navigation or the commercial exploitation of the vessel; • claims resulting from death or personal injury that occurred on board or ashore, in connec - tion with the operation of the vessel;

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