ABSTRACT
This chapter examines basic domestic and international problems Brazil faced in developing a significant national merchant marine, and the nature of Brazilian responses to the challenge. It discusses how the major components of national shipping have implemented Brazilian international shipping policy. Shipbuilding is capital-intensive and requires considerable technological expertise, in construction as well as in associated industries. The shipping sector, like all maritime sectors, has been influenced since 1964 by the general policy orientation of the successive military governments. The larger political debate over the Brazilian developmental model also relates in part to shipping policy. Shipbuilding was given an initial boost through the 1967-69 Emergency Naval Construction Plan, which was followed by successively more ambitious, regularized plans. Since the share of the national carriage of Brazilian trade has risen to fifty percent, the major avoidable expense remains chartered vessels.
