Bimco warns of continuing problems in Brazil coastal trades

Foreign seafarers employed on vessels owned by non-Brazilian companies are not able to obtain 'visa number 5', causing them great difficulties, the Baltic and International Maritime Council (Bimco) says.

It said the visas were being issued only to crew employed by Brazilian companies.

Following an earlier Bimco warning on the deteriorating situation in Brazil, one tanker was allowed to berth at Vila do Condo in Belem and discharge cargo after a Belem judge blocked a deportation order issued against the vessel's crew.

Bimco said that the Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras, time charterers in several of these cases, had asked Brazilian authorities to find a solution to the visa problem.

However, recent events demonstrated that authorities intended to continue punishing foreign tankers involved in the coastal trade.

Immigration officials at Vila do Condo issued a deportation order for crew of another vessel on January 9, giving them eight days to leave the country.