Our History

In October 1958, Raúl Dos Santos began his activities as a Maritime Agent in the port of Asuncion, working with the German ocean freezer vessel “Henry Horn” chartered by F. F. Hansen S.R.L., transporting frozen beef from Asuncion to be transferred to larger vessels in Buenos Aires.

The Maritime and Shipping Agency continued expanding and in 1959, it acquired the representation of the SCANSA LINE, the first direct service between Asuncion, New York and other ports on the United States East Coast, with small coast ships.

Since 1962, more representations were acquired for Paraguay from prestigious maritime companies such as the JOHNSON LINE, ROYAL MAIL LINES, GREEK SOUTH AMERICAN LINE, NIVER LINE, BRODIN LINE, NORSKE SYD AMERIKA LIJN, NETUMAR LINE, HOULDER BROTHERS, FROTA OCEANICA BRASILERIA, ITALIA DE NAVEGACION, and CROWLEY AMERCIAN TRANSPORT LINES, among others.

In 1967, in order to attend the growing number of represented companies more efficiently, Raul dos Santos transformed the single-person limited liability company into PARAMAR SRL, together with Mr. Wolfgang W. Sandke, who left the company some years later.

NAVEMAR SA, was constituted in 1969, originally under the name Transmarco S.R.L., obtaining the representations of fluvial navigation companies such as Vilas y Cia. S.A., Naviera del Litoral S.A., Trafluem S.A. Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales, Ferry Lineas, Lunmar Naviera S.A and others.

In 1971, the family’s second generation joined the company, with Jorge E. dos Santos’s incorporation, who left the company in 2002. Ricardo Raúl G. dos Santos joined the company in 1974, as well as Carlos E. A. dos Santos in 1976, who also left the company in 1983.

PARANAVE S.A. was constituted as an assembly company in 1971, and in 1976, the first vessel was bought by the holding company, the TAITA port tugboat, of only 80 HP. As the years went by, different tugboats and barges were also incorporated, consolidating it as a company concentrated in the transport of containers among the ports of Asuncion, Buenos Aires, and Montevideo, with barges with continuous bulkhead decks, tugboats and container vessels.

Since 1972, PARAMAR S.R.L., was likewise assigned as a General Sales Agents for prestigious air companies such as Scandinavian Airlines Systems- SAS, South African Airways - SAA, THAI AIRWAYS, Aeroperu, TAM and SPANAIR.

From 1979 on, Navemar acted as agent and service operator of direct ships between Asuncion and European ports for PLATA MAR LINE, PARAGUAY LINIE, EUROPE PARAGUAY LINE (EPAL) and later as manager for TRANSBARGE DE NAVEGACION-RTZ and others.

In 1990, UNITRANS S.A. was constituted—originally with foreign partners—an assembly company dedicated to the transport of solid and liquid bulk cargo in barge convoys and tugboats.

In 1992, Navemar S.A., together with Compañía Marítima Paraguaya S.A., constituted the Navemar/CMP S.R.L. Consortium, with the purpose of rationalizing the use of their port elements, and also incorporating high capacity cranes, trucks and platforms designed specially for the transport of larger cargo, and sidelifter trucks for the transport, loading and unloading of 20 and 40ft containers.

In 2001, the Navemar/CMP S.R.L. Consortium partners decided to install a port terminal in San Antonio, 27 km south of Asuncion, specialized in cargo container and special cargo operations, thus transforming their original name into TERMINALES PORTUARIAS S.A – TERPORT, and beginning their operations in May 2002.

In December 2006, Unitrans S.A. and the multinational company Noble Netherlands B.V. created UNINOBLE S.A, with the objective of developing grain transport in barges. They began the assembly of twelve 2,600-ton capacity barges in the country, thus creating an integrated convoy with 32,000 tons of capacity, which began operations in March of 2008.

In May 2007, the container vessel EXPLORADOR was purchased under the company Remolques Paraguayos S. A., later merged with Paranave SA, which later bought 4 tugboats and 4 barges with a total storage capacity of 2,472 teus, and providing container transport service between Asuncion, Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

By late 2014, Paramar, already a public limited company, was concentrating strongly in Freight Forwarding, Project Cargo, developing related logistical businesses, and investing in its own fleet of trucks and equipment for the development of a distribution business. 2019 finds Paramar S.A. consolidated as one of the main Forwarders in our market, while also obtaining the ISO 9001:2015 certification – the first company in the business to do so.

Today, the third generation has already joined the organization, with Ricardo D. dos Santos joining in 2003, Esteban dos Santos in 2004, Alejandro dos Santos in 2010 and Federico dos Santos in 2014, all grandsons of the founder, reinforcing the younger generation’s interest in developing the family company.

From the very beginning, the company’s main objective was to provide a high quality service to its clients, which is why, as the years have gone by, it has consolidated a highly professionalized and trained work team, leading its different departments and duties.

In 1998, Navemar SA was the first fluvial company in the region to obtain the INTERNATIONAL SAFETY MANAGEMENT (ISM) certification. In the year 2000, it earned the ISO 9001 quality certification and in 2001, the ISO 14001 environmental management certification. In 2010, it obtained the BASC certification in control and security in the logistical chain, and in 2013, the OHSAS 18001 certification in occupation health and safety. In 2019, it also added the ISO 45001 certification on occupational health and safety.

Since 1993, Navemar SA has acted as General Agent for Hamburg Süd and Aliança de Navegaçao e Logistica, and The Shipping Group in Paraguay, positioning the company as one of the largest maritime transporters in Paraguay. Since October 2019, Hamburg Süd operates its own maritime agency in Paraguay, maintaining its commercial ties with the holding’s companies, particularly for Paranave SA’s feeder service for transporting containers between the ports of Rio de la Plata and the Paraguay River, as well as with Terport for port services.

Paranave and its feeder service, using container vessels, tugboats and barges with fixed scales, guarantees its clients better timing with regards to both transit and service, connecting Paraguay, through the Rio de la Plata, with all of the services offered by the different Maritime Lines, with whom Paranave SA has contracts and agreements.