Rethinking Bareboat Charter Agreements in the Wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Juan Francisco Albarenque, Legal Director, National Shipping Argentina, Argentina

Covid-19 represents a global crisis whose effects go beyond the field of public health, and affect many others parts of our daily lives. It goes without saying that the pandemic has heavily impacted all domestic economies due to a necessary slowdown of business activities driven by lock down measures, social distancing and uncertainty. The deteriorating financial situation of companies and individuals, alongside the domino effect produced on commercial relationships, puts companies on the verge of breaching their contractual obligations that had been undertaken pre-pandemic.

Juan Francisco Albarenque is the Director of Legal Affairs at National Shipping Argentina. Prior to joining the company in 2019, he worked as Senior Legal Counsel for Shell Company in Argentina and Shell Oil in Houston, Texas. Mr. Albarenque has extensive experience in the oil & gas and energy sector. He regularly speaks at legal conferences and writes articles for specialised magazines.

Natonal Shipping is a company dedicated to the integral transportation of hydrocarbons, with an experience of more than 20 years. The company complies with an important part of the supply of products from the Argentine Republic and carries out international transports.