ANTAQ opens consultation on foreign-vessel chartering and market-circulation rules

Brazil’s National Waterway Transportation Agency (ANTAQ) opened Public Consultation and Hearing No. 08/2026 on 9 November 2026. The consultation is scheduled to run until 24 December 2026 and seeks comments on a draft rule affecting the criteria, time limits, procedures and administrative infringements associated with **circularização** (market consultation), vessel blocking and chartering in cabotage and offshore support navigation.

**Verified facts.** ANTAQ states that the draft would amend Resolutions No. 129/2025 and No. 62/2021. Its stated scope includes time chartering and the procedures used to consult the domestic market on the availability of Brazilian-flag vessels. The public notice was published on 27 October 2026 and updated on 6 November; the consultation itself opened on 9 November. No final resolution has been adopted through this consultation, and the published material does not establish a new legal entry-into-force date.

ANTAQ’s underlying regulatory record identifies a specific offshore-support issue: foreign vessels may be chartered by time, and bareboat chartered without flag suspension, subject to ANTAQ authorization and a market consultation through the SAMA system regarding the availability of a Brazilian-flag vessel for the intended service. The record says ANTAQ found that nearly half of the SAMA protocols reviewed were unused or abandoned. That finding is ANTAQ’s regulatory assessment, not an independently audited market statistic.

The consultation documentation also indicates that offshore-support treatment was separated from cabotage during the regulatory work. This distinction matters because operating models, vessel specialization and demand patterns in offshore support may differ substantially from conventional cabotage trades.

**Analysis — why this matters.** For shipowners, charterers and offshore-support operators, the immediate issue is process risk rather than a rule change already in effect. Parties planning foreign-tonnage employment, renewals, substitutions or contingency cover should follow the draft closely and preserve clear evidence of vessel requirements, timing and domestic-market inquiries. If ANTAQ ultimately tightens deadlines, documentation standards or infringement provisions, deficient or abandoned filings could become more consequential for chartering schedules and contractual exposure.

For P&I interests, insurers, cargo interests and claims handlers, the consultation is relevant because chartering authorization and supporting records can become important factual material when disputes arise over delay, off-hire, regulatory compliance, availability representations or the allocation of costs. This is not a clearance instruction or a determination that any particular foreign-vessel operation is authorized. Applicability must be assessed against the final rule, if adopted, and the facts of each case.