Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2674 actions· ✨ 91 recent

Brazil's national development bank BNDES approved a BRL 1.981 billion (~USD 374 million) financing operation, drawn from the Merchant Marine Fund (Fundo da Marinha Mercante, FMM), for Bram Offshore Transportes Marítimos Ltda — a subsidiary of the US-headquartered Edison Chouest Offshore group and Brazil's largest offshore-support vessel operator. The loan funds the newbuild construction, by July 2028, of six diesel-electric hybrid PSV 5000-class support vessels at the Navship shipyard in Navegantes, Santa Catarina, chartered to Petrobras under 12-year contracts. The project is expected to create 620 direct shipyard jobs during construction and 190 direct operational jobs at Bram.

Brazil's national development bank BNDES is financing a BRL 3.7 billion (~USD 693 million) loan, drawn from the Fundo da Marinha Mercante (Merchant Marine Fund), to LHG Logística — the logistics arm of LHG Mining (Grupo J&F) — to build a fleet of 400 barges and 15 pushboats for transporting iron ore and manganese by inland waterway from Corumbá (Mato Grosso do Sul) roughly 2,500 km via the Paraguai/Paraná river system to the Nueva Palmira transshipment terminal in Uruguay. The vessels are being built over four years at six Brazilian shipyards; BNDES estimates the project lifts the national inland-cargo fleet by 16% and generates about 5,500 direct and indirect jobs, with 87% of funds applied in Brazil's North and Northeast regions.

Brazil's national development bank BNDES signed a BRL 2.5 billion (~USD 471.6 million) financing contract with Starnav Serviços Marítimos on 22 September 2025 in Itajaí (Santa Catarina), drawing on the Merchant Marine Fund (Fundo da Marinha Mercante, FMM). The loan covers just over 88% of the ~BRL 2.9 billion cost of eight hybrid (diesel-electric with battery banks) multipurpose offshore support vessels — four Platform Supply Vessels (PSV) and four Oil Spill Recovery Vessels (OSRV), each 5,500 dwt — to be built at the Detroit Brasil shipyard in Itajaí. The vessels will be chartered to state oil company Petrobras under 12-year contracts to support offshore oil and gas production, and the project is projected to generate 1,400 direct and 6,300 indirect jobs. The announcement was part of a wider BRL 3.3 billion BNDES package for Santa Catarina covering naval, highway and agroindustry financing.

Brazil's national development bank BNDES approved a BRL 186.1 million (~USD 33.6 million) financing operation for Bram Offshore Transportes Marítimos Ltda, part of the US Edison Chouest Offshore group and the largest offshore-support vessel operator in Brazil. The loan, drawn from the Merchant Marine Fund (Fundo da Marinha Mercante, FMM), covers 90% of a BRL 206.8 million project to repair, modernise and convert 15 support vessels — including hybrid-propulsion retrofits (battery installation) on at least one Petrobras-chartered vessel — at the Navship shipyard in Navegantes, Santa Catarina. The same BNDES announcement included a separate BRL 53.2 million FMM loan to Estaleiro Navship Ltda to resume pandemic-halted shipyard works at Porto do Açu (São João da Barra, RJ).

Brazil's national development bank BNDES approved a BRL 345 million financing package, drawn from the Merchant Marine Fund (Fundo da Marinha Mercante, FMM), for Hermasa Navegação da Amazônia to build 60 river barges and 2 azimuth-propulsion towboats. BNDES frames the deal as the FMM's first allocation specifically targeted at decarbonisation, with the new fleet projected to cut annual CO2 emissions by up to 88.4% via fewer trips and a potential diesel-to-biodiesel switch on the towboats. The vessels will operate on the Madeira-Amazon river corridor in Brazil's North region, adding roughly 35% cargo capacity and an estimated 355 jobs.