Posted on August 7, 2026
By Adriano Fernandes- MD Neptune Americas & Marine
This is the second time the Federal Audit Court has halted the procurement process, which is also being challenged before the federal courts. Maintenance dredging at the port remains in operation.
Brazil’s Federal Audit Court, the Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU), has ordered the suspension of the commencement order for the Santos Port navigation-channel deepening contract awarded to Jan De Nul do Brasil Dragagem.
According to the newspaper A Tribuna, the Santos Port Authority (APS) signed the commencement order on July 17, 2026, authorizing Jan De Nul to begin work to deepen the navigation channel from 15 metres to 16 metres.
On August 5, 2026, the TCU Plenary unanimously granted an appeal filed by Etesco Construções e Comércio, leader of the Consórcio Santos Dragagem, and ordered APS to refrain from issuing the commencement order for Contract APS 120/2026, or to suspend its effects if it had already been issued, until the merits of the case are decided. APS and Jan De Nul were given 15 days to respond to the interim measure.
The decision does not cancel the contract or determine the final outcome of the tender. It is a precautionary measure intended to prevent the project from becoming operationally and financially difficult to reverse while challenges to the procurement remain unresolved.
Etesco’s challenge
Etesco was initially disqualified from the 2025 electronic tender after failing to submit its detailed cost-composition and BDI spreadsheets together with its commercial proposal. The missing documents were subsequently provided within a 24-hour clarification period without changing the total bid price. The TCU decision records that Etesco’s offer was approximately BRL 10 million lower than the proposal later ranked first.
The TCU had previously concluded that the original justification based on the missing cost spreadsheets was improper. Nevertheless, it maintained Etesco’s exclusion on a separate ground involving a subsequent change in the composition of the bidding consortium and the alleged lack of sufficient evidence that the reliability and feasibility of the original proposal had been preserved.
In the latest ruling, however, Minister Benjamin Zymler stated that the circumstances deserved further examination. He noted that no new company had entered the consortium; rather, one minority member had withdrawn, leaving two companies that had participated since the beginning. Etesco also argued that the remaining consortium members already held the technical and financial qualifications required for the tender.
Risk of irreversible costs
Although the contract with Jan De Nul had already been signed, the TCU concluded that mobilization of personnel and specialized dredging equipment could create financial and indemnification obligations for APS if the procurement were later annulled or revised.
The Court considered that suspending the commencement of the new contract would reduce, rather than increase, the risks to the public authority and its officers while the pending legal and administrative disputes are reviewed.
Maintenance dredging continues
The TCU also found that the suspension would not immediately compromise port operations because the existing maintenance-dredging contract with Van Oord Serviços de Operações Marítimas remains in force.
That contract covers maintenance of the navigation channel, turning basins and berth-access areas at the existing nominal depth and, according to the case records, remains effective until March 4, 2027, with Van Oord already mobilized and operating at Santos.
The existing Van Oord contract maintains the current depth of approximately 15 metres, while the Jan De Nul contract concerns deepening to 16 metres. However, the activities physically overlap in sections 2, 3 and 4 of the navigation channel and in several berth areas, meaning the two operations could not necessarily proceed simultaneously.
Other challenges remain pending
The Jan De Nul award is also the subject of a separate TCU representation filed by DTA Engenharia, which questions the feasibility and composition of the winning proposal. That proceeding, TC 011.750/2026-0, is being handled separately and has not yet been decided on the merits.
A related federal court action is also pending. According to A Tribuna, Jan De Nul previously obtained the reversal of an injunction that had suspended the tender, allowing APS to proceed with the contract and commencement order, although the underlying judicial case has not yet reached a final decision.
The newspaper further reports that Brazil’s Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office opened a civil inquiry concerning the procurement. APS has denied wrongdoing and maintains that the tender complied with applicable legislation and preserved competitiveness, equal treatment and the selection of the most advantageous proposal.
Contract value
According to A Tribuna, the contract awarded to Jan De Nul has a reported value of approximately BRL 617.9 million (USD 121 million) and a five-year duration, including the deepening phase, dredging execution and subsequent maintenance services.
The TCU’s interim ruling will remain in effect until the Court reaches a decision on the merits of Etesco’s appeal.
Source note: This English version is based on the 6 August 2026 edition of A Tribuna and TCU Decision No. 2037/2026-Plenary (Case TC 024.321/2025-7). Statements concerning the reported contract value, newspaper chronology and prosecutorial inquiry are attributed to A Tribuna.
