In Brazil's case, the maritime interests are wide and historical. The sea was our way of discovery, colonisation, independence consolidation and commerce, besides being the place of the sovereignty's defence in many episodes, including two world wars in the last century.

　Brazil appears as the most industrialised country in South America. It has a huge territory of 8,512 thousand square kilometres (47.3% of the total South American continent and 17% of the world's land) and its coastline is one of the longest in the world (a coastline of about 8 thousand kilometres along the Atlantic Ocean). From the economic point of view, 95% of the total Brazilian exterior commerce is transported by sea, which amount to about one hundred billion of US dollar per year, including exports and imports, but not including freight costs, which is about six billions US dollar per year. The estimated flow is 16,000 ships per year, it is important to note that ships of foreign flags realise the majority of this transport.

　To support this, Brazil needs to have a well-structured Merchant Marine and Navy. This is possible through the Brazilian Maritime Administration.

　

　

　A few years ago, the Port Administration and the transportation system in Brazil used to be the majority of State owned companies. However, a new legislation has expanded the private sector opportunities significantly in Brazil's transportation systems.

　According to the Brazilian Government Homepage on the Internet (Governo do Brasil, 1999), the Department of Merchant Marine operates with long-range vessels, which moved some 265 million tons of bulk and general cargo through Brazilian ports during last year. The Brazilian merchant marine carried 26.8% (71 million tons), 5.68 million tons on its own vessels and 65.32 million on chartered ships. The total annual movement should reach some 500 million tons by the year 2010. Considering the need to renew and modernise the ships, to absorb the tonnage being chartered, and to increase national flag participation to 35% of the trade, the Brazilian fleet of 4.8 million gross tons should expand to 20 million gross tons by the year 2010. This would represent an increase of 1.4 million gross tons per year and would require some R$20 billion in investments.

　The coastal cabotage and interior shipping is a very important figure for the Brazilian economy. About 42 million tons of cargo is moved within the coastal cabotage trade each year, and some 6 million tons along the interior waterways. By the year 2010, about 115 million tons will be transported in the coastal cabotage trade and 22 million tons on the interior waterways. This expansion will require investments of approximately R$ 12 billion over the next fifteen years.

　The ports, which are administrated by the Department of Ports, generally old installations and sometimes located in historic urban areas, often have difficulty modernising because they frequently lack the space required for today's maritime transportation systems(Japan International Co-operation Agency, 1995). On the other hand, their present locations represent very valuable real estate. Thinking about the need to earn a return on these assets, the Brazilian government has instituted the Ports Revitalisation Program (PNDAE).

　The port system requires an estimated $1 billion of investments in the next four years,$500 million for infrastructure and the rest for equipment. In recent years, the Brazilian government has invested $200 million in the ports and expects to invest $50 million in 1999. The combination of last year's Port Modernisation Law, the new Law of Concessions and last year's constitutional amendments will enable national and foreign capital to invest in all phases of the port sector.

　Another important sector of transport in Brazil is the waterways, under the administration of the Department of Inland Navigation. The government plans to invest R$900 million during the next four years on 40,000 km of Brazil's principal waterways. Done in partnership with the private sector, these investments will permit the maintenance of this system and the construction of multimodal terminals at a cost of R$6 million each. An investment of R$100 million is already planned for the next two years to guarantee the year round navigability of the 2,240 km Araguaia Tocantins waterway.

　Unfortunately, the maritime administration legal framework has not adjusted its operation to accommodate the changes that are constantly present in the shipping industry, both locally and internationally.

　It is important to mention that even with the problems discussed above, the Brazilian Maritime Administration has a good position within the Latin American Countries and presents some characteristics that are not encountered in them, like the Fund for the Development of Maritime Professional Education (FDEPM). This fund will be discussed in the next item.

　

　

　Brazil is a Federal Republic, where each Brazilian state has its own constitution and is autonomous within the federal control (see figure 3.1). The maritime administrative body is the Directorate of Ports and Coasts (DPC) of the Ministry of Navy. Under national law, this Directorate is the only representative to IMO regarding Brazilian territorial waters.

The main purposes of the DPC are, according to the Brazilian Navy:

　

　

To carry out its work, DPC is represented by two maritime academies, captaincies, delegacies and agencies, located throughout the country, covering the complete coastline and around 50,000 km of navigable inland waters. The organisations that represent the DPC receive technical guidance from it in matters related to safety of life at sea, navigational safety, pollution prevention at sea and professional maritime education (see figure 3.2).

　

　

　Some years ago, the DPC performed all the jobs locally. In some departments of the Directorate, surveys of ships have been carried out without suitable training of the officers responsible. This still happens regarding accidents involving small ships in the Amazon River. An accident occurred in Rio de Janeiro in January 1992, with the small passenger ship "Bateau Mouch", where more than one hundred people died. This fact was responsible for promoting a regional concern about safety at sea. Therefore the Directorate started formal training for inspection officers and surveyors, which was based on the IMO Model Courses for Surveys.

　A Fund for the Development of Maritime Professional Education (FDEPM) was established, after the promulgation of the Maritime Education Law, to give economic support to the education and training of maritime industry workers. The maritime industry has made a compulsory deposit of 0.02% of their monthly employer payroll to this fund. The Directorate of Ports and Coasts is the executive branch authorised to manage the money of the Fund on maritime education. All expenses have to be authorised by the Council of the FDEPM, which is formed by interested parties, like the Navy and professionals within the maritime industry. This Fund is an important point, which makes the difference between the Brazilian Merchant Marine, which is co-ordinated by the Ministry of Transport, and others in Latin America (see figure 3.3). It is important to take into account that the Ministry of Transport also co-ordinate the Department of Ports, which is responsible for the administration of the Brazilian ports and it is not related to the Ministry of Navy as the Directorate of Ports and Coasts (DPC).

　

　

　The Directorate of Ports and Coasts has continued to provide, through some of the Port Captaincies courses for port workers even after the promulgation of Port Law. The training and qualification of the port workers is the responsibility of the Management Organ of Labour (OGMO). For specialised port workers in the use of various types of cargo handling equipment, the OGMO works out a plan for training them. They train both, new workers and already registered workers.

　The Directorate of Ports and Coasts compiles rules and norms for the use of the capital of the Fund for the Development of Maritime Professional Education (FDEPM) in training programs for port workers. The Captaincies and Delegacies analyse the proposals made by the Management Organ of Labour (OGMO). The maritime education programs are congregated by the Directorate, which also authorises the Captaincies to sign administrative agreements with OGMO's.

　Fishing is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Supply and the Ministry of Navy. The former controls fish exploitation, determining where and when fishing is allowed. The latter is responsible for the safety of life at sea. The Directorate of Ports and Coasts must supervise the instruction centres, Captaincies and Delegacies, which implement the training courses for fishermen and issues a seaman book that is compulsory.

　All search and rescue operations are under the responsibility of the Ministry of Navy in the area designed as the Brazil-SAR. The effective implementation depends on the Ministry of Communications, which is in charge of the Coastal Radio Stations. The Captaincy and/or the Delegacy are directly involved in a SAR operation, in case of casualty.

　The Directorate is responsible for making inquires whenever a casualty happens. The Captaincy and/or the Delegacy should carry out the technical inquiry for the area where the casualty has occurred. The Captaincy and/or the Delegacy forward the conclusion of the technical inquiry to the Directorate. The inquiry is analysed by the experts of the DPC and, depending on its implications, a process is open and sent to the Maritime Tribunal. The creation of this Tribunal was done under the national law number 2181, promulgated in February 1954, and the Ministry of Navy is responsible for it.

　

　

　The statistics of oil spill in Brazil are not as catastrophic as they could be, which can not properly be considered the reason for the tranquillity of the Brazilian government. For example, in 1998, 27 occurrences of oil spill were registered, the majority of which had a volume of less than one ton. The two biggest, with a volume of 108 tons and 15 tons occurred in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, respectively.

　A considerable part of these oil spills in Brazilian Territorial Waters comes from the international discharge of ships in transit, usually dirty ballast water and oily mixtures. It is a criminal action that, unfortunately, some shipping companies and shipowners do not repress energetically. Recent studies of the United States National Academy of Science show that these discharges are exceeding in volume the oil spills that result from accidents with tankers.

　

　The Brazilian response to the incidents of oil pollution is usually generated and co-ordinated at the regional level, the parties being the polluter, municipal and state environmental organisms and the Navy, when it is solicited.