This article aims to discuss the role of state planning in the setting up, the expansion and the crisis of the heavy shipbuilding industry in Brazil, between 1959 and 1989. The text is divided into five topics. The first discusses the setting up of the heavy marine industry within the political and strategic goals of the Plano de Metas, which is followed by a slowdown between 1963-1966. It ends with the transformation of CMM and of the SUNAMAM in 1969. A period of consolidation then becomes evident, marked by the rapid growth of the naval complex. The latter followed the shipbuilding plans established between 1969 and 1982. In the third topic, we discuss the beginning of the reversal of expectations, caused by the difficulties in meeting the growth goals set in the 1981 and 1982 plans. This is associated with the crisis in SUNAMAM. In the fourth topic, between 1982 and 1989, while SUNAMAM agonized and funding sources grew scarce, the industry enters a downturn route with a partial dismantling of the naval complex. Finally, the text provides a brief comparative history of the Latin American merchant marines and shipbuilding industries.
shipbuilding; State; planning; expansion; crisis