According to Law No. 8 of 30 March 1982, which created the Maritime Court and regulated the Maritime proceedings, the attachment of a vessel may be ordered in the following cases:

- To enable the enforcement of maritime claims before the Maritime Court in Panama against foreign defendants whether the cause of action arose inside or outside Panama.

- To effect physically seizure of property susceptible to attachment in order to enforce maritime liens over the same.

- To prevent the proceedings from being rendered futile and to prevent the defendant from transferring, dissipating, encumbering, alienating or impairing such assets as are susceptible to attachment procedures.

As you can observe, the Panama Maritime Code establishes two separate types of action: one to enforce maritime liens over vessels, cargo or freight, which are actions “in rem”, and a second to enforce any maritime claim against the owner or the charter, which are actions “in persona”.

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