Argentina (AR) — civil law.

Nothing on this page describes United States practice. There is no certificate sold to an investor, no administrative sale of land for unpaid tax, and no redemption window after a subasta judicial in Argentina. If you arrived carrying US assumptions, read falsos-amigos first.

Ley 20.094 — Ley de la Navegación

The Ley de la Navegación governs “todas las relaciones jurídicas originadas en la navegación por agua”. Where it is silent, analogy comes first and only then the general civil law (art. 1). For a buyer at auction it does four jobs:

• it says what a ship is and what comes with it (arts. 2, 154);
• it sets the form and registration of title by tonnage (arts. 155–163, with Ley 19.170 for the register);
• it ranks the privilegios around the hipoteca naval and says when a venta judicial extinguishes them (arts. 471–514, esp. 476, 484, 511);
• it lays down procedure — attachment, the ban on departure (interdicción de navegar), the mandatory RNB report before any judicial sale (art. 553) and the concurso especial (arts. 554–560), which the court must decree only when, per that report, privileged claims prima facie exceed the sale base and a privileged creditor requests it (art. 554).

It also creates the main non-judicial forced sale of vessels. Wrecks and inactive hulls whose owners ignore a removal order are deemed abandoned to the State (Prefectura) and may be sold by licitación pública or subasta pública, with a State privilege that overrides every prior charge (arts. 17–24, per Ley 26.354). Procedure under the Act is federal and national. Federal courts hear interjurisdictional-navigation cases (art. 515), and the national procedural code (CPCCN) applies unless the Act says otherwise (art. 516). The 2025 decree history matters for crew and registration articles. DNU 340/2025 amended arts. 56–57, 109, 142–143. Congress rejected it — Diputados Res. 39/2025 and Senado Res. 57/2025, BO 25/08/2025, per the InfoLEG note. Decreto 628/2025 (BO 3/9/2025) then restored the original texts of arts. 56–57, 109 and 142–143 (art. 1 of Decreto 628/2025, per the InfoLEG notes in the updated text).

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