Shipping 2025

SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Verónica Meana, José Antonio Domínguez, Enrique Ortiz and Mikel Garteiz-goxeaskoa, Aiyon Abogados

4.9 Releasing an Arrested Vessel The first and quickest option to release an arrest - ed vessel is by placing security before the court: • the type of security (eg, letter of undertaking (LOU) of a protection and indemnity insurance (P&I) club) can be agreed with the arresting party and this agreement should be respect - ed by the court; and • if an agreement on the security is not pos - sible, in order to release the vessel, security must be placed before the court through any of the means specified in the Spanish Procedural Law. This would include a cash deposit, or an unconditional and unlimited in terms of duration bank guarantee issued by a first-class Spanish bank. A P&I club LOU will not be admitted by the Spanish courts if the arresting party has not agreed to do so. The second way to obtain the vessel’s release involves disputing the arrest order on the basis that it is a wrongful arrest, ie, that it does not comply with the requirements of the 1999 Arrest Convention. This second possibility takes longer than the first (several weeks or even months), because the court will schedule a hearing prior to deciding on the issue. The third possibility would involve the arresting party not complying with their obligation to com - mence and file the proceedings on the merits before the competent court/arbitrator within the period of time granted by the Spanish court. This period is usually 20 to 90 days and will depend on where the competent court is located. If Spain has jurisdiction, the period will only be 20 days. The period starts counting from the date that the arrest order was notified to the owners (usually via the Master or ship agents and served by the court via the Harbour Master).

4.10 Procedure for the Judicial Sale of Arrested Ships Under Spanish law, the arrest does not give the claimant the legal right to seek direct enforce - ment against the vessel. The procedure for judicial sale of the arrested ship is subject to the commencement of recog - nition (when the judgment or award has been issued by a foreign ie, non-European jurisdiction or international arbitration) and enforcement pro - ceedings of the final judgment or award on the merits of the claim. The enforcement proceedings of a national or recognised foreign judgment or award against any asset located in the Spanish territory is regu - lated by the Spanish Code of Civil Procedure and the subsequent judicial sale of the vessel is regulated by Articles 480 to 486 of the SSA which mandate the observance of the Lien Con - vention provisions and the Spanish Procedural Rules. Under Article 636.3 of the Spanish Code of Civil Procedure, the court will order the sale of the vessel through a public auction, which may be conducted either by a specialised body or directly by the court. Within the framework of the court proceedings, the parties involved, namely, the claimants/creditors and the debtor, retain the option to reach an agreement regarding the sale of the vessel. However, this agreement must be approved by the court and accepted by any third party holding an interest in the vessel. The order granting the judicial sale of the vessel must be served to: • the authorities and vessel’s registrar of the flag state; • the registered owner;

536 CHAMBERS.COM