Essential Maritime Information on Bolivia

Bolivia, despite being a landlocked country with no ocean coastline, plays an interesting role in the maritime field thanks to its river access and inland port infrastructures. This peculiarity has a significant influence on its trade exchanges and economic development. This section presents the essential aspects concerning Bolivia's maritime situation, its challenges, and opportunities in this sector.

Geographical situation and maritime context

Bolivia is a landlocked country located in South America, bordered by Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, and Peru. Although it does not have a maritime coast, it benefits from significant access to waterways, notably via the Paraguay River through the Paraguay-Paraná river system, which serves the inland port of Puerto Busch. This port plays a major strategic role as it constitutes the maritime gateway to the Atlantic via the waterway. Since the War of the Pacific in the 19th century, Bolivia has lost its direct access to the Pacific Ocean but continues to develop its maritime capacities through its inland ports. This historical geopolitical context still influences Bolivia's economic and maritime strategy.

Waterways are therefore crucial for Bolivia. It invests in improving its waterway infrastructures to facilitate international trade and reduce logistical costs. Port infrastructures and multimodal transport means allow Bolivia to integrate global markets more effectively. Thus, despite the absence of a coastline, Bolivia exploits its river resources and creates logistical corridors to ports located on neighboring coasts.

Inland port infrastructures and their functions

Bolivia's river ports are increasingly important in regional maritime transport. Puerto Busch is central to this setup as Bolivia's newest port on the Paraguay River. It is designed to accommodate large-tonnage river vessels and facilitate trade exchanges with South American countries while easing access to international markets via the Paraná-Paraguay waterway system.

Besides Puerto Busch, the port of Rurrenabaque, although less developed, also plays a role in river traffic and the transport of internal goods. These infrastructures reduce costs related to importing and exporting, offering a logistical solution adapted to the country's geographical constraints. Bolivia also invests in improving logistics networks complementing its ports to ensure rapid and secure transit of goods.

Despite its challenges, Bolivia aims to strengthen its indirect maritime presence by developing its capacities on waterways and increasing partnerships with countries offering direct maritime access, such as Peru and Chile, to optimize its trade flows. This also translates to enhanced regional cooperation and projects to improve maritime and waterway infrastructures in neighboring countries, positively impacting Bolivian trade.