Article 109p. 109

COMMERCIAL LAWS NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS, CORPORATION, INSURANCE, TRANSPORTATION, BANKING

4. The auction shall be held on the day fixed, with the

formalities prescribed in the common law for judicial

sales.

5. If the sale should take place when the vessel is in a

foreign country, the special provisions governing such

cases shall be observed.

ARTICLE

580.

In all judicial sales of vessels for the

payment

of

creditors,

the

said

creditors

shall

have

preference in the order stated:

1. The credits in favor of the public treasury proven by

means

of

an

official

certificate

of

the

competent

authority.

2. The judicial costs of the proceedings, according to an

appraisement approved by the judge or court.

3. The pilotage charges, tonnage dues, and the other sea

or port charges, proven by means of proper certificates of

the officers intrusted with the collection.

4. The salaries of the caretakers and watchmen of the

vessel

and

any

other

expense

connected

with

the

preservation of said vessel, from the time of arrival until

her sale, which appear to have been paid or are due by

virtue of a true account approved by the judge or court.

5. The rent of the warehouse where the rigging and stores

of the vessel have been taken care of, according to

contract.

6. The salaries due the captain and crew during their last

voyage, which shall be verified by virtue of the liquidation

made from the rolls of the crew and account books of the

vessel, approved by the chief of the Bureau of Merchant

Marine where there is one, and in his absence by the

consul, or judge, or court.

7. The reimbursement for the parts of the freight the

captain may have sold in order to repair the vessel,

provided

the

sale

has

been

ordered

by

a

judicial

instrument executed with the formalities required in such

cases, and recorded in the certificate of the registry of the

vessel.

8. The part of the price which has not been paid the last

vendor, the credits pending for the payment of material

and work in the construction of the vessel, when it has

not navigated, and those arising from the repair and

equipment of the vessel and its provisioning with victuals

and fuel during its last voyage.

In order that the credits provided for in this subdivision

may enjoy the preference they must appear by contracts

recorded in the commercial registry, or if they were

contracted for the vessel while on a voyage and said

vessel has not returned to the port of her registry, they

must be made under the authority required for such

cases and entered in the certificate of registry of the said

vessel.

9. The amounts borrowed on bottomry bonds before the

departure of the vessel, proven by means of the contracts

executed

according

to

law

and

recorded

in

the

commercial registry; the amounts borrowed during the

voyage with the authority mentioned in the foregoing

subdivision, filling the same requisites, and the insurance

premium,

proven

by

the

policy

of

the

contract

or

certificate taken from the books of the broker.

10. The indemnity due the shippers for the value of the

goods

shipped,

which

were

not

delivered

to

the

consignees, or for averages suffered for which the vessel

is liable, provided either appear in a judicial or arbitration

decision.

ARTICLE 581. If the proceeds of the sale are not sufficient

to pay all the creditors included in one number or grade,

the amount shall be divided among them pro rata .

ARTICLE 582. After the bill of the judicial sale at auction

has been executed and recorded in the commercial

registry, all the other liabilities of the vessel in favor of the

creditors shall be considered canceled.

But if the sale should have been voluntary, and took place

while the vessel was on a voyage, the creditors shall retain

their rights against the vessel until her return to the port

of her registry, and three months after the record of sale

in the commercial registry, or after her arrival.

ARTICLE 583. If the ship being on a voyage the captain

should find it necessary to contract one or more of the

obligations mentioned in Nos. 8 and 9 of Article 580, he

shall apply to the judge or court if he is in Spanish *

territory, and otherwise to the consul of Spain, * should

there be one, and, in his absence to the judge or court or

to the proper local authority, presenting the certificate of

the registry of the vessel treated of in Article 612, and the

instruments proving the obligation contracted.

The judge or court, the consul or the local authority as the

case may be, in view of the result of the proceedings

instituted, shall make a temporary memorandum in the

certificate of their result, in order that it may be recorded

in the registry when the vessel returns to the port of her

registry, or so that it can be admitted as a legal and

preferred obligation in case of sale before the return, by

reason of the sale of the vessel by virtue of a declaration

of unseaworthiness.

The

lack

of

this

formality

shall

make

the

captain

personally liable to the creditors who may be prejudiced

through his fault.

ARTICLE 584. The vessels subject to the liability for the

credits mentioned in Article 580 may be attached and

judicially sold in the manner prescribed in Article 579, in

the port in which they are, at the instance of any of the

creditors; but if they should be freighted and ready to sail

the attachment can not take place except for debts

contracted for the preparation and provisioning of the

vessel

for

the

same

voyage,

and

even

then

the

attachment shall be dissolved if any person interested in

her sailing should give bond for the return of the vessel

within the period fixed in the certificate of navigation,

and binding himself to pay the debt in so far as it may be

legal, should the vessel be delayed in her return even if it

were caused by some fortuitous event.

For debts of any other kind whatsoever not included in

the said Article 580, the vessel can only be attached in the

port of her registry.

ARTICLE 585. For all purposes of law not modified or

restricted by the provisions of this Code, vessels shall

continue to be considered as personal property.

TITLE II Persons Who May Take Part in Maritime

Commerce

SECTION I Owners of Vessels and Ship Agents

ARTICLE 586. The owner of a vessel and the agent shall be

civilly liable for the acts of the captain and for the

obligations contracted by the latter to repair, equip, and

provision the vessel, provided the creditor proves that the

amount claimed was invested therein.

By agent is understood the person intrusted with the

provisioning of a vessel, or who represents her in the port

in which she happens to be.

ARTICLE 587. The agent shall also be civilly liable for the

indemnities in favor of third persons which arise from the

conduct of the captain in the care of the goods which the

vessel carried; but he may exempt himself therefrom by

abandoning the vessel with all her equipments and the

freight he may have earned during the voyage.

ARTICLE 588. Neither the owner of the vessel nor the

agent shall be liable for the obligations contracted by the

captain if the latter exceeds his powers and privileges

which are his by reason of his position or have been

conferred upon him by the former.

However, if the amounts claimed were made use of for

the benefit of the vessel, the owner or agent shall be

liable.

© Compiled by RGL

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