In this seminar, ship arrest in Chile and other South American countries will be discussed
Chile is one of the most well-known jurisdictions in South America to arrest ships. It has numerous alternatives enabling a swift arrest, and once an agreement has been reached, the ship is promptly released.
Chile has not acceded to any of the Arrest Conventions and the Chilean Code of Commerce, Book III, regulates this enforcement procedure. Book III was entirely modified in 1988, creating several procedures to modernize national maritime law and develop the country’s shipping business. The legislation aimed to incorporate the most prominent features of each Arrest Convention.
There are several mechanisms to arrest a ship in Chile i.e., i) an arrest in rem, ii) an arrest in personam, and, also iii) other security proceedings against the cargo. Associated-ship arrest is an interesting feature of Chilean national legislation. This allows the arresting party to take a step further than under the traditional sister or surrogate ship arrest procedure. A sister-ship arrest refers to the situation where two or more ships are, or are deemed to be, commonly owned, while an associated-ship arrest allows arresting a vessel under the same operation and management.
It is not necessary to have a jurisdictional link to arrest a vessel in Chile. In this seminar, I will discuss the Chilean arrest system and its development through seminal judicial cases and other general South American practices concerning ships’ arrest.
Rafael Durán Sanhueza is a Chilean Attorney. He holds a law degree from Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, and a LL.M from Universidad de Chile and Heidelberg. He is the founding partner of Durán & Cía. Abogados. The firm specializes in the field of international maritime trade law. Rafael has served as an expert for World Bank and he is currently the vice-president of the Iberoamerican Institute of Maritime Law. He has taught commercial and maritime law in Chile, Mexico, among other countries