Seatrade Maritime: Brazilian judge denies Maersk bid to suspend Santos terminal tender

A court ruling has upheld the Tecon 10 terminal tender process in the Brazilian port of Santos, rejecting Maersk‘s request for suspension.

Judge Paulo Cezar Neves Junior rejected the Danish shipping company Maersk’s request to suspend the tender process for the Tecon 10 terminal, arguing that there are no illegalities and that the federal audit authority is also reviewing the tender.

Maersk filed a lawsuit last month against the Brazilian maritime transport authority (Antaq), demanding corrections to the bidding process for the construction and operation of the new mega-terminal.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Maersk noted that the decision, published on Tuesday, referred to the request for a new public consultation and did not address its questions about the guidelines that exclude current operators from the first phase of the auction.

Maersk announced that it will consider appealing the decision and taking other measures, noting that the ruling does not address all its concerns, especially regarding the restrictions imposed on existing operators in the first phase of the tender. The shipping company has questioned whether the rules prevent incumbent companies from participating in that initial stage, although they will be able to do so in subsequent rounds if they divest their other holdings in the port.

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Previously Antaq recommended -in a document submitted to Brazil’s Federal Audit Court (TCU) – that the auction be held in two phases. In the first phase, shipping lines that already operate a terminal at the Port of Santos would be excluded. They would only be allowed to participate in a potential second round.

According to the agency, the goal was to facilitate the entry of new market players and prevent excessive market concentration in the hands of a single company. On that basis the world’s three largest shipping lines—Maersk, MSC, and CMA CGM—would be barred from the initial phase.

Maersk’s APM Terminals operates the Brasil Terminal Portuário (BTP) in the Port of Santos capable of handling 1.5 million annually.

Under the current rules, if no valid proposals are received in the first phase, existing terminal operators in Santos will be able to participate in subsequent rounds, provided they divest other holdings in the port.

The Brazilian maritime authority, which is responsible for the process, did not immediately respond to inquiries about these restrictions for the concession of the new terminal, expected to bring $1 billion investment.  The port of Santos is one of the largest ports in Latin America.