Toda a nossa história - Concais

In the 19th Century until the mid-20th century, the Port of Santos was the main entrance to European and Asians immigrants who came to Brazil - especially to São Paulo.

Passenger ships brought a great number of foreigners who came to take a chance in Brazilian lands. Families came looking for new opportunities brought by ships that made history. Over the decades and centuries, the Port of Santos was a witness of the different stages of passenger ships, since the immigration period until the current times.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the pier of Warehouses 5 and 6 - behind the building of the Customs - was the main pier for passenger ships. Then, the pier of Warehouses 15 and 16 was used primarily for cruise ships, including the IV for luggage.

From the second half of the 20th century, with the expansion of flights industry, especially during the 1960s, the cruise ships - that no longer lead immigrants, but passengers traveling for leisure - began to lose space for aircraft. But the cruise industry looked for solutions and a new concept of travel was created to replace the old 'liners', cruise ships that made regular lines, as London-New York. Transatlantics have been transformed into permanent leisure environments with attractions for all ages - children, teens and adults for older people.

Beginning in the second half of the 20th Century, with the expansion of jetliner flights, especially in the 1960s, ocean liners - no longer leading immigrants but leisurely passengers - began to lose space for airplanes. But the cruise industry did not wait for departures - it worked for solutions. A new concept of travel was worked to replace the old liners, transatlantic that made regular lines, like London-New York. Transatlantics have been transformed into permanent leisure environments, with attractions for all ages - from children, teenagers and adults to the elderly.

The first ship assisted by Concais was Costa Marina, at the pier 23, next to the Maritime Passenger Terminal. But the first transatlantic to dock at the pier of warehouse 25, where Concais is located, was the Portuguese ship Funchal, on December 2, 1998.


The moment was economically good, since Brazil had facilitated the maritime transport of passengers from one port to another in the country, the so-called tourist cabotage. With the opening of the sector, through Constitutional Amendment No. 7, of August 15, 1995, the legislation was changed, allowing foreign transatlantics to do cabotage. The cruise industry began to grow, year after year. In the early 1990s, it was forbidden for foreign transatlantics to lead tourists from one point to another in the national territory. Thus, a foreign ship could embark Brazilian tourists in a national port, but the itinerary would have to include ports from abroad - the cruises could not occur between Brazilian ports. Under these conditions, there were limits to the expansion of Brazilian maritime tourism.

Concais has always believed in the strength of the cruise industry. Since the beginning of operations, the company invested in the expansion of its facilities in order to offer the best conditions for the expansion of this promising market.
Since then, Concais has served dozens of transatlantics from traditional shipping companies. And each season, it serves thousands of passengers from all over the country.

The activity of cruises at the Port of Santos is still seasonal. Nowadays it is a limited period between five to seven continuous months but not all the 150 or 210 days have vessels movement. In the case of Santos Port, the season increased considerably. When Concais started the activities, the season was a maximum of three consecutive months, with an average of 50 days of operation. The annual occupancy rate of Concais in recent seasons has not exceeded 35%.

Concais provides facilities for all the authorities related to reception and security of passengers and crew: Codesp, Customs, Federal, Civil and Military Police, Port Guard, Ministries of Health (Anvisa) of Labor and Agriculture, Maritime Agencies and Shipowners.

Concais has a Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) system for electronic surveillance and personnel to control de access and ensure the tranquility of passengers and of all those involved in the tourist assistance operations. In the boarding and disembarkation rooms, the terminal has scanners and metal detectors and, in the luggage warehouse, exclusive scanners for the cabin suitcases.