CAE approves BR do Mar with amendments

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.

Regarding the timely rental of ships – when the foreign flag is kept, reducing costs -, the proposal foresees more possibilities in relation to the current rules. However, to access these new formats, the business will only be able to charter ships that belong to a foreign subsidiary belonging to a Brazilian shipping company. This ensures that there will be a fleet available for cabotage in Brazil.

Despite keeping these general rules in the text, Trad had to add changes and include a suggestion by senator Kátia Abreu (PP-TO) in the proposal. Abreu defends a type of opening of the rental of foreign vessels different from that formatted by the Ministry of Infrastructure and criticizes the model created. According to what was found by Broadcast Politico (the Grupo Estado’s real-time news system), the modification was agreed upon in advance.

Source: State of Minas

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https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/economia/2021/09/21/internas_economia,1307559/cae-do-senado-aprova-br-do-mar-com-alteracoes.shtml

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