The government’s project to encourage coastal shipping, called BR do Mar, advanced through the Senate. The proposal was approved on Tuesday, Sept. 21, by the economic affairs committee (CAE) in a report by senator Nelsinho Trad (PSD-MS). One of its pillars is the flexibility of chartering foreign vessels to be used in cabotage. Conceived by the Ministry of Infrastructure, the bill intends to make these rules more flexible in order to increase the supply of ships and, therefore, competition, lowering the costs of this type of navigation.
BR do Mar predicts that after a transition period, shipping companies will be able to rent bareboat vessels (changing the ship’s foreign flag to Brazilian) without having their Brazilian ships. However, this scenario of full release will only happen beginning in 2027, according to Trad’s text, which extended these deadlines concerning what was proposed by the government.
