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We work with success in Port Detention cases for P & I Clubs, Port Correspondents and Ship-Owners, always focussed in the fast release of the vessel and negotiation

Port Detention of Ship in Spain carried on by the Maritime Administration

According with the Spanish Law, Maritime Administration adop the Port Detention of Ship in certain cases.

The Maritime Administration take this measure by aimed to retain and prevent the ship to proceed to sea.

Such power is stated in articles 297 and 320 of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2011 (approving the revised text of the Ports of the State and Merchant Marine Act, PSMMA/2011).

Although the Royal Decree 1737/2010, on Port State Control (PSC/2010) also permit the port detention of ship.

Detention of Vessels by the Port Authority and by the Harbour Master’s Office (Inspection Service / PSC Paris MOU)

In general, the Port Authority imposes the detention of the ship to ensure the future payment of the repairs of the caused damages to the port installations and equipments or to the coastal line.

Conversely, a fault of safety provokes the detention of the vessel by the Harbour Master’s Office. Those faults normally are discovered after an ordinary or extraordinary port state control survey.

In particular, the regulation of the administrative proceedings stands in the:

PSMMA/2011.
Coasts Act 22/1988 and its regulation (the Royal Drecee 1471/1989).
Royal Decree 1772/1994, of Transport Proceedings.
Common Administrative Procedural Act, 2015 (CAPA/2015) and others.

In conclusion, these texts contains the procedural administrative rules to take into account. Many of them have entered in force in 2016.

In any case, the Administartive proceeding is always previous to the Contentious-Administrative Procees. Thus, when the pretension of the shipowner in the sanction or indemnity file is denegated, we have to claim the rights of the clients before the Courts and Tribunals (formal complaints before the Contentious-Administrative Court in two months).