Mr Jorge Loaiza > Arias, Fábrega & Fábrega > Panama, Panama > Lawyer Profile

Arias, Fábrega & Fábrega
PH ARIFA, 10TH FLOOR, WEST BOULEVARD
SANTA MARIA BUSINESS DISTRICT
PO BOX 0816-01098, PANAMA
Panama
Jorge Loaiza photo

Work Department

Mr. Loaiza focus his practice in shipping and shipping litigation, working with major ship finance banks, shipping companies and investors, on structured ship financings, construction, acquisitions, litigation and registration of all types of ships, mobile drilling units, FPSOs and other equipment in the shipping and energy sectors; with deep industry knowledge to creatively overcome obstacles and a global perspective on these matters.

Position

Mr. Loaiza is Head of the firm’s Shipping and Transportation Group and an ARIFA’s Compliance Committee member.

Career

Jorge Loaiza joined the firm in 1990 and became a partner in 2014. He was the resident lawyer in our London office from 2000 to 2005.

On heading the firm’s Shipping and Transportation Group, far from having handled and currently attending to numerous standard administrative tasks in the areas of registration and mortgage filing procedures, he has assisted and represented clients in complex sale and purchase deals, inventive ship financing, under construction structuring, technical aspects and compliance under international maritime conventions and innovating in maritime litigation strategies, by even promoting the creation of precedents on asset arrests, administrative filings and other unconventional procedures.

With a strong background and experience in corporate and commercial law, including knowledge of the common law system and comparative law at the LLM level, Mr. Loaiza provides well founded and a thorough range of legal advice, which has extended to complicated insolvency and reorganization proceedings of Panamanian corporations abroad, involving at the same time enforcement of naval mortgages and sale of vessels, overall, including assisting in respect to other type of foreign proceedings, all of which is not the common denominator of most of the shipping lawyers in Panama or elsewhere. 

Prior to joining the firm, he worked with Kelley Drye & Warren, US. He was member of the drafting Committee and contributor to the amendments of 2009 to Law 8 of 1982 of Maritime Judicial Procedure, and part of the joint Commission (Government and Maritime Lawyers) for complementary regulations to Law 57 of 2008 of the Merchant Marine Administration.

Languages

Spanish, English.

Memberships

Vice president of the Panama Maritime Law Association (2008-2012)
Member of Shiparrested

Education

Southern Methodist University, LLM (1989)
Santa Maria La Antigua University, LLB (1988)
Admitted: Panama.

Lawyer Rankings

Panama > Transport: Shipping

(Hall of Fame)

Jorge Loaiza III – Arias, Fábrega & Fábrega

Arias, Fábrega & Fábrega‘s shipping practice is renowned for the depth and breadth of its offering, with expertise in both contentious and transactional matters in this space. The team is skilled in advising owners and financial institutions on the financing of ships and shipping operations, as well as in obtaining port operations licences, and it also handles a high volume of registrations of vessels under the Panamanian flag (with a notable strength in the registration of mobile offshore drilling units). On the litigation front, the firm is particularly experienced in representing international clients in cross-border disputes. Practice head Jorge Loaiza III is highly sought after by banks, shipping companies and investors to advise on ship financing, acquisitions, litigation and registrations, while Pilar Castillo is also a standout name for shipping finance. The firm further strengthened its practice in August 2023 with the arrival of Fernando Aued, an expert in maritime litigation, from Dentons.