Shipping 2026

BRAZIL Law and Practice Contributed by: Godofredo Mendes Vianna, Camila Mendes Vianna Cardoso and Lucas Leite Marques, Kincaid | Mendes Vianna Advogados

Kincaid | Mendes Vianna Advogados Av. Rio Branco nº 01, 14th floor – Ed. RB1 – Centro Rio de Janeiro – RJ 20090-003 Brazil

Tel: +55 21 2276 6200 Fax: +55 21 2276 6284 Email: marketing@kincaid.com.br Web: www.kincaid.com.br

1. Maritime and Shipping Legislation and Regulation 1.1 Domestic Laws Establishing the Authorities of the Maritime and Shipping Courts The Brazilian legal system is a state-court system, in which each state has the authority to organise and determine the matters that will be dealt with in each of its courts. For example, in the state court of Rio de Janeiro there are seven first-instance courts that have jurisdiction over commercial matters such as insol - vency, bankruptcy, IP and maritime disputes, which sit apart from other civil matters. In the court of São Paulo at the end of 2023 the Specialised Centre of Justice 4.0 – Maritime, Port and Customs Law was established, and the service provided is 100% digi - tal. However, there are no specialised courts in most states, and maritime matters are ruled by regular civil courts. Federal courts will have jurisdiction in some circumstances, such as if a state-owned vessel or a federal interest is involved. In the above-mentioned judiciary system, the most common claims include charter-contract disputes, demurrage claims, cargo claims, arrests of vessels and indemnity claims for accidents involving vessels or their cargo. It should also be noted that Brazil has an Admiralty Court, located in Rio de Janeiro. This court has nation - wide jurisdiction to rule on maritime accidents and facts of navigation, and its main goal is to find the causes of the incident and the parties responsible for

it, and to apply the administrative penalties set forth in Law No 2,180/54. This court is not part of the judiciary system but is an administrative tribunal subordinated to the Ministry of Defence/Navy Command. The Admi - ralty Court adjudicates a wide variety of cases involv - ing maritime accidents and facts of navigation, with the most common cases involving machine failures, collisions and other accidents. 1.2 Port State Control Brazil follows the resolutions of the International Mari - time Organization (IMO) on port state control and is a signatory to the Latin American Ship Control Agree - ment by the State of Porto (Viña del Mar Agreement), committing itself to maintaining an effective system of inspections of foreign vessels and aiming to ensure compliance with the international requirements appli - cable on board. In this regard, port state control in Brazil is performed by qualified naval inspectors accredited by the Direc - torate of Ports and Coasts (DPC), as per regulations set forth in the NORMAM-203 and NORMAM-204 Ordinances. The DPC has the authority to contribute to: • the guidance and control of the merchant marine and related activities in the interests of national defence; • the safety of waterway traffic; • the prevention of pollution by vessels, platforms and the support stations thereof;

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