Judge of the 21st Federal Civil Court of São Paulo denied a request from the company to annul Megateminal Notice in Porto de Santos
The 21st Federal Civil Court of São Paulo rejected action filed by against (National Waterway Transport Agency) in the case of the STS-10 containers in the port of Santos. The decision was signed by federal judge Paulo Cezar Neves Junior on September 18, 2025. Read A (PDF – 268 KB).
The company sought to nullify acts of the agency and oblige the holding of a new public hearing on changes in the notice. According to Maersk, the regulator would have included in a “Supervening” e “Unpublished” without consultation with society.
The judge, however, understood that the competitive theme “It was present since the beginning of the administrative procedure ” and that there was no illegality. For him, the agency had already promoted two public hearings about the project in 2022 and 2025, in which the question of the participation of incumbents was widely debated.
“Any changes in specific points of the draft, even if relevant, do not necessarily impose a new public hearing”said the judge.
He mentioned that the legislation does not require additional consultations with each modification and that the bidding still undergoes control instances, such as the Federal Court of Audit) and the National Congress.
The magistrate also considered that suspending the process could cause losses to the port: “The granting of the injunction could incur the so -called ‘periculum in mora’ reverse, because the delay in bidding this lease can impair containers’ movement in the port of Santos, which today operates very close to its capacity limit.”.
The judge understood that suspending the process would be a higher risk of damage to the public interest than to let the bidding continue to be under consideration.
TCU Analysis
TCU analyzes the STS-10 auction model. The technical area that the dispute is made in the sole phase, allowing the participation of current operators through a divestment clause in case of victory.
The process is reported by Minister Antonio Anastasia and will still be voted by the plenary.
