Colombia MLA (ACOLDEMAR) Update June 2026

Over the past months ACOLDEMAR has advanced several initiatives that reflect both its international engagement and its work to strengthen maritime law in Colombia.

ACOLDEMAR signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Paris International Arbitration Chamber (CAIP), on the occasion of the visit of CAIP’s Secretary General, Arnau Puig Tiemblo, to Bogotá. The agreement brings together two institutions committed to strengthening international arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, and to the promotion and dissemination of maritime law. Under it, ACOLDEMAR and CAIP will work jointly on the exchange of knowledge and best practices, the organisation of conferences and seminars, and initiatives to encourage broader use of ADR in their respective regions. For ACOLDEMAR, the cooperation reaffirms its vocation as a reference institution for maritime law in Colombia and its aim to expand Colombian participation in the international arbitration and maritime law community.

ACOLDEMAR has also remained active in the CMI’s international working groups. On 15 June 2026 the Association submitted its response to the questionnaire on Greener Contracts circulated on 26 May 2026 within the framework of the Decarbonisation International Working Group, and it is currently preparing its comments on the second draft of the MORU Convention. Looking ahead, ACOLDEMAR intends to deepen and broaden its institutional participation in the CMI’s International Working Groups and Standing Committees, contributing actively, as the Colombian member association, to the development of the international maritime law agenda.

ACOLDEMAR is also co-hosting, together with the Dirección General Marítima (DIMAR), Colombia’s Maritime Authority, the Encuentro Marítimo Nacional, a high-level panel on the role of the oceans and seafarers in the country’s maritime development. The session takes place on 1 July 2026 at the DIMAR auditorium in Bogotá, in hybrid format with in-person attendance and live streaming, and is conceived as a space for dialogue among maritime and port authorities, academia, the scientific community, industry, and maritime law practitioners. The panel brings together Rear Admiral Hermann Aicardo León Rincón, Director General of DIMAR; Francisco Arias Isaza, Director General of INVEMAR, Colombia’s marine and coastal research institute; Gloria Hurtado Langer, Secretary General of ACOLDEMAR; Commander Diego Salguero, of DIMAR’s Technical Maritime Management Group; and Captain Juan Manuel Uricoechea Pérez, Deputy Director of Merchant Marine at DIMAR. ACOLDEMAR’s President, Mauricio García Arboleda, takes part on behalf of the Association, and the panel is moderated by Liliana López, head of ACOLDEMAR’s Environment and Sustainability Committee.