Pursuant to article 37 of Law 33 of June 30th, 2010 of the Republic of Panama, the registration of ownership titles, mortgages and mortgage related documents (discharges, amendments, addenda, assumptions, pari passu agreements, mortgagees' subordination agreements, etc.) are now being handled by the Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) instead of the Public Registry, since December 31st, 2010.

The new General Directorate of Public Registry of Titles and Encumbrances on Vessels of PMA has therefore already started operations.

You may find it of interest to know the following facts relating to the new system:

  • PMA has acquired and installed technical equipments and systems that replicate that of Public Registry. The system is already running on practice mode at PMA and has been fully operational as of December 16th, 2010.
  • The Director of the new General Directorate of Public Registry of Titles and Encumbrances on Vessels of PMA is Mr. Mario Castrellón.
  • Migration of the database and scanned images of the Public Registry into PMA has been completed.
  • Registrations handled at the Shipping Section of Public Registry up until and including December 30th, 2010 remain valid and in full force and are unaffected by the transfer of registration matters to PMA.
  • The system of priorities according to registration remains unchanged in that mortgage or mortgage related documents that are registered first in time will have a priority lien over the later registrations.
  • Registration data assigned by the Shipping Section of the Public Registry up until and including December 30th, 2010 remains the same and is available at PMA.
  • Vessels with Card number assigned by the Shipping Section of the Public Registry up until and including December 30th, 2010 have kept the same Card number for all future registrations made at PMA.
  • Registration data assigned by PMA as of December 31st, 2010 follows the same structure used up to date by the Shipping Section of Public Registry (Card and Document).
  • PMA is now available for preliminary registrations 24 hours, seven days a week and the procedure followed by the Consulates remains unchanged, i.e., the Consulates can request PMA to await at a specific date and hour to assure that a PMA officer will be standing by to process the application for preliminary registration immediately upon receipt.
  • Registration fees remain the same.
  • Preliminary and permanent registrations at PMA have the same validity and binding effects on third parties as registrations arranged by the Public Registry.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.