Workers’ Union of Pernambuco Goes to Court Against Corvette Construction in Itajaí

Result of Competition by the Brazilian Navy for the Construction of Four Corvettes is Questioned by Union from Pernambuco and Complaint is Filed with the TCU

The Metalworkers, Mechanical, and Electrical Material Industries Union of Pernambuco filed a precautionary action to cancel the result and prevent the signing between Emgepron, the state-owned company responsible for the Navy’s projects, and the Águas Azuis consortium.
As Click Petróleo e Gás reported at the end of March this year, the Oceana CBO Shipyard in Itajaí, Santa Catarina, won the contract to build four Tamandaré Class Corvettes (CCT’s) for the Brazilian Navy.

The Stalemate

The Águas Azuis consortium has the Oceana shipyard located in Itajaí as the builder, and the questioning from the Workers’ Union of Pernambuco is regarding the bidding process, which they claim was not conducted transparently.
According to the Union, the FLP consortium, which had the Vard-Promar shipyard in Pernambuco as the builder, was fully capable of constructing the vessels.

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According to the Union’s director, Henrique Gomes, “The program revives the shipbuilding industry and this is good for everyone, but it is a legal issue. We cannot accept a manipulated process. The ship is 120 meters long and the shipyard in Itajaí is only 80 meters. How can the Navy accept as the best offer a reference price that is not finalized? How can it accept an offer that includes royalty payments for technology transfer, which is usually 3% of the product’s value, given the current state of the government’s finances?”

The shipbuilding industry in Pernambuco has already employed over 7,000 workers with its two largest shipyards, Atlântico Sul and Vard-Promar, with Vard-Promar currently responsible for 200 jobs, and Atlântico Sul, after the delivery of the last ship from Promef, expected to make many layoffs and retain employees only for maintenance of the shipyard.

With the loss of the bid, the situation of the Pernambuco shipbuilding industry has worsened and become concerning for local unions.

The focus of the dispute, between the states of Pernambuco and Santa Catarina, is the construction of four Tamandaré class corvettes (CCT), escort ships, expected to be delivered between 2024 and 2028, with the project estimated to be worth R$ 5.5 billion.

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