Franco & Abogados Asociados updates
Oil pollution risk: should Colombia ratify the Supplementary Fund and the Bunkers Convention?
Franco & Abogados Asociados- Shipping & Transport
- Colombia
- 07 October 2020
Discussions have recently arisen among academics and professionals as to whether Colombia's pollution protection regime for ships carrying crude oil as cargo or bunkers is satisfactory. Thus, now seems like a good time to reopen the debate on whether ratifying the Supplementary Fund Protocol and other international instruments (eg, the Bunkers Convention) could help Colombia to protect itself adequately against this type of incident.
Dealing with COVID-19: is quarantine for cargo vessels always the solution?
Franco & Abogados Asociados- Shipping & Transport
- Colombia
- 08 April 2020
Local authorities in Colombia have found themselves facing the same dilemma that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing everywhere: how to protect public health while at the same time maintaining the operation of commercial activities and the flow of necessary goods to the greatest extent possible. To this end, the Colombian National Maritime Authority has been following International Maritime Organisation guidance and a number of regulations have been issued at the domestic level.
New maritime code offers a way forward
Franco & Abogados Asociados- Shipping & Transport
- Colombia
- 25 September 2019
The National Maritime Authority recently published the first draft of what could become the new Colombian maritime code. The draft aims to consolidate the main regulations applicable to maritime activities at the domestic level in a single piece of legislation (ie, a maritime code). Among other things, it incorporates regulations on subjects such as navigation-related issues, contracts for vessel exploitation and court procedures for resolving traditional maritime incidents (eg, collisions).
New tugboat resolution: what you need to know
Franco & Abogados Asociados- Shipping & Transport
- Colombia
- 14 November 2018
A new resolution, which was recently released at the local level, has introduced requirements for tugboats operating in Colombian waters. The resolution establishes national rules on the organisation, planification and performance of towage operations in line with International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Resolution A 765(18) and other IMO regulations on safety requirements for towed ships and other floating objects.
Is Colombia really a Hague/Hague-Visby jurisdiction?
Franco & Abogados Asociados- Shipping & Transport
- Colombia
- 10 May 2017
For local lawyers working in the shipping and transport sector at the domestic level, the question of whether Colombia really is a Hague/Hague-Visby Rules jurisdiction has been posed on many occasions. In particular, despite the fact that Colombia has not yet properly ratified any of the existing instruments available internationally, the relevant section of the Commercial Code has supposedly been founded on the Hague Rules.
National regulation on SOLAS verified gross mass amendment: a step forward?
Franco & Abogados Asociados- Shipping & Transport
- Colombia
- 14 September 2016
The implications of the new International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) amendment on verified gross mass have been widely discussed in the shipping industry. The concept of 'estimated weight' was recently abandoned and all interests must now collaborate to determine the 'verified gross mass' of any packed container that is to be loaded on board any ship to which Chapter IV of SOLAS applies. Resolution 2793 addresses this issue in Colombia.
Multimodal transport regulation and case law
Franco & Abogados Asociados- Shipping & Transport
- Colombia
- 10 February 2016
Although contracts pertaining to the multimodal carriage of goods are not regulated at the international level, some jurisdictions have their own instruments which address the matter at a regional level, such as the Andean Multimodal Regime. Although case law on the application of the regime is minimal, a recent court decision recognised its mandatory nature in a case pertaining to liability under a multimodal carriage contract.
