OUTLINING MARITIME CABOTAGE PUBLIC POLICIES FOR THE BRAZILIAN TRANSPORT SYSTEM

Cabotage in Brazil has not been sufficiently addressed, despite the fact that its national importance requires that it be thoroughly understood. The purpose of this research revolves around analyzing and discussing the strategic role and usefulness of cabotage in order to base the development of public policies within the scope of the Brazilian transport matrix. The study is both exploratory and descriptive. Its aim is to inductively retrieve empirical data patterns from unstructured interviews guided by a general initial script; primary data collection was grounded on the problematic contextualisation set from relevant secondary data treated with content analysis software. The ex-post literature review played a central role in the discussion of the emerging patterns of behaviour that supported the development of preliminary correlations between the proposed recommendations and the identified obstacles. The three main types of obstacles that were found could be divided and linked to recommendations to facilitate the development of cabotage based on the research findings. The resulting policy proposals are classified, as follows: i) Looking holistically at cabotage and, as a strategic domain for both development and sovereignty; ii) Monitoring the fuel price as a core cost; iii) Eliminating and simplifying useless bureaucracy; iv) Establishing a fruitful relationship with shipbuilding; v) Regulating taxation; vi) Reviewing the state’s funding requirements and, vii) Improving Port Infra- and Superstructures. Finally, it is argued that credible public policies have emerged by following a scientific method to process and organise data.