Title: The Brazilian cabotage market: a content analysis

Authors: Ana Cristina Paixão Casaca; Cassia Bömer Galvão; Leo Tadeu Robles; Sérgio Sampaio Cutrim

Addresses: Federal University of Maranhão, Avenida dos Portugueses, 1966, Bacanga, São Luís-Maranhão, 65080-805, Brazil ' São Paulo Catholic University, Rua Monte Alegre, 984 – Perdizes, São Paulo – SP, 05014-901, Brazil ' Federal University of Maranhão, Avenida dos Portugueses, 1966, Bacanga, São Luís-Maranhão, 65080-805, Brazil ' Federal University of Maranhão, Avenida dos Portugueses, 1966, Bacanga, São Luís-Maranhão, 65080-805, Brazil

Abstract: The development of domestic short sea shipping (SSS) (hereinafter cabotage) services along the Brazilian coast has drawn the attention of economic and political players since the early 1800s, when the Brazilian internal market was under development. In 1993, subject to the Port Modernization Act, the federal government adopted a new regulatory framework to provide cabotage services, which resulted in a non-competitive situation derived from capacity and operational restrictions. This situation is a tough challenge, particularly after 2003, when Brazil has witnessed an economic boom. Despite this, cabotage came to the forefront of the industry of research and development and numerous studies and papers of an industry and academic nature have been presented and published nationally. The paper consolidates the available information coherently, which is scattered among many documents, investigates the Brazilian cabotage market by mapping demand and supply and by analysing its strengths and weaknesses. The paper identifies that cabotage faces numerous weaknesses and presents a set of solutions, that can only be solved and implemented in the medium-long-term, respectively, which require high investments and regulatory changes. The paper suggests some economic and political changes to be performed at an industry and government levels.

Keywords: Brazil; cabotage; literature review; demand and supply; advantages and disadvantages.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTL.2017.086316

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, 2017 Vol.9 No.5, pp.601 - 625

Accepted: 15 Mar 2016
Published online: 04 Sep 2017 *

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