The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina communicated to the government of Paraguay the authorization of the ferry service between the towns of Irala (Paraguay) and Puerto Libertad (Argentina), crossing the Paraná River.
Read also
City of Ciudad del Este accepts PIX for tax payments
Authorization from official Argentine bodies was among the pending issues for the crossing, awaited for decades, to finally come to fruition.
The ferry will be operated by the company Macuco Ecoaventura y Navegación, a Paraguayan subsidiary of the Macuco Group, from Foz do Iguaçu.
According to the newspaper La Nación, however, there is still no set date for the start of crossings between the ports of Irala and Libertad.
The main obstacles, according to the La Nación, would be related to the inspection structure of ferry passengers on the Argentine side.
“The Naval Prefecture of Puerto Iguazú does not have the resources to build a customs post. Until there is a solution for this, we will continue to wait,” said Derlis Benegas, mayor of Irala.
The newspaper already The territory, from Argentina, published that the Puerto Libertad city council itself is making improvements to the local port, as a way to speed up the process.
Irala Queen Ferry
The ferry used will be the Rainha Irala, with capacity to transport up to 30 vehicles and 130 passengers. Built especially for the Paranazão crossing, the vessel is 52 meters long and 12 meters wide.
The connection between Irala and Libertad represents a long-standing desire of the local population, who only have small boats to cross the Paraná River.
The ferry between the two cities could also provide an alternative for residents of the southern half of the department (state) of Alto Paraná.
Irala is about 60 kilometers from Ciudad del Este, shortening the distance to Argentina and also serving as a “shortcut” to Brazil.
