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Paraguay Ports and Rivers
To reach to Paraguay's major cities from the Atlantic Ocean,
vessels must pass through nearly 1,500 kilometers of Argentine
territory. Paraguay's river systems also connect the country with
Bolivia and the Pacific Ocean as well as with Brazil, its largest
trading partner. From the late 1880s, river transportation in
Paraguay was dominated by Argentine and Brazilian shipping
companies.
The Río Paraná and Río Paraguay are the country's two main
waterways
(see
fig. 3). The Río Paraguay, with headwaters at Mato
Grosso, Brazil, flows southward, converging with the Paraná in
southwestern Paraguay, and then flowing to the Río de la Plata
Estuary, the entrance for the great majority of ships servicing
Paraguay's ports. Vessels over 5,000 tons cartravel upriver only as
far as Asunción during the winter months (March to October). The
Río Paraná, 4,500 kilometers in length, is one of the world's major
rivers and the primary mode of transportation along Paraguay's
eastern and southern borders. Also flowing southward, the Paraná
throughout the 1980s up was only navigable for most ships to the
port of Encarnación. The construction of the Yacyretá hydroelectric
plant, however, was expected to raise the water levels at
Encarnación, allowing ocean-going vessels to venture as far north
as Puerto Presidente Stroessner.
As a result of the rapid growth in road construction since the
1970s, the transportation role of smaller rivers was declining,
especially in terms of international trade. Still, these river
systems comprised over 3,000 kilometers of inland waterways.
The port of Asunción was the nation's only truly modern port and
handled most of the country's imports and exports
(see
fig. 7).
Asunción sported modern berthing facilities and advanced cargohandling equipment. Originally privately owned, the port was
purchased by the government in 1940 and was managed by the Ministry
of Public Works and Communications through the National Port
Authority. In the 1980s, the government was striving to expand and
upgrade the port's highly congested facilities. Because of
congestion at Asunción, the government also was planning to build
a new port thirty-seven kilometers south of the capital at Villeta.
Asunción's future role as a port would be primarily to receive
imports. In the late 1980s, Villeta already was handling a greater
share of the country's agricultural and industrial exports. The
fastest growing hub of commercial activity, however, was located at
the port city of Puerto Presidente Stroessner, where Paraguay was
connected with Brazil by the spectacular single-span Friendship
Bridge. This growing city was also the site of the country's new
international airport and generally served as the major way station
for contraband trade. The country's other ports were generally
small and less modern than Asunción; they included San Antonio,
Encarnación, Concepción, Casado, Villa Elisa, Bahía Negra, Sajonia,
Calera Cué, and Vallemí.
The government's Merchant Marine (Flota Mercante del Estado--
Flomeres) handled approximately 25 percent of the country's annual
cargo level. Although many of the country's ships were outdated, in
the 1980s Flomeres purchased more modern ships from Japan through
government financing from that nation. Paraguay also had a privatesector fleet of merchant ships and numerous small shipping
enterprises. Argentine, Brazilian, Dutch, British, and American
companies provided the balance of shipping services.
Data as of December 1988
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