Os navios mercantes

Abstract

The period from 1967, until the end of the 70 ´s decade, was marked by the protectionism and by the interventionism in the maritime activity. In this period several government organisms were created, seeking to make possible the maritime sector. Associated to the protectionist legislation and to the shipbuilding plans, with great interference of the State, it has resulted, in Brazil, a great expansion phase of the shipbuilding industry, until the beginning of the 1980’s decade. In 1979, with the end of Merchant Navy Fund, the model failed, as a consequence of symthoms of serious resources management problems. The demobilization of the instruments of ordination and support to the naval industry and to the Merchant Navy, happened in a disordered way, resulting in the idleness of the shipbuilding industry and in the reduction of the participation of the national Merchant Navy in the brazilian traffics, which has been making the maritime sector pass for a crisis situation, since the middle of the 80’s decade. It is necessary that the State takes the Merchant Navy and the Naval Industry as strategic needs, as well as to have political will to develop it. Nowadays, it is a matter of concerned the lack of national ships of our own production, because a strong Merchant Navy, in time of peace, contributes to the invigoration of the Maritime Power and acts as instrument of diplomatic pressure and, in time of war, contributes actively for the National Mobilization that, established in the Federal Constitution, involves all expressions of the National Power and channels all resources of the Country to assist the efforts against the foreign aggression. In spite of Brazil be a country where there is no military threat, nothing guarantees that they won't exist, thus the control upon the seas, for commercial and military purposes, is decisive in all wars and important in political strategic terms. The ships of the Navy of War, in naval operations, have logistic demands that can be supplied during a conflict by merchant ships. Historically, it has been proved the participation of the merchant ships in conflicts and its importance into the logistic support in naval operations. Among several conflicts, we can mention the mobilization of merchant ships in the origins of the Imperial Navy of Brazil during the proclamation of independence from Portugal, in the Paraguay War, in World War II, in the conflicts of Portugal in Africa, in the Malvinas War, and in Persian Gulf War. They were all examples of the potential that the merchant fleet represents into the logistic support to the Navy of War in naval operations