Waterways Assessment 

The Mekong River, which flows through Lao territory from the north to the south for 1,865 km, is the longest, the biggest and the most important inland navigable mode of transport in Laos. It is not only Asia’s fourth longest river, but also an international river that connects six countries in the region namely China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia helping alleviate the difficulty of reaching the mountainous areas of the countries where land transport is neither feasible nor economic. 

In 2000, China and the three countries of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand signed the Agreement on Commercial Navigation on the Lancang-Mekong River. Between 2002 and 2003, China paid for a project that blasted rocks and rapids to clear waterway at 16 locations on the Mekong where it forms the China-Myanmar and Myanmar-Lao borders to improve navigation channel. Today, the only sections from Houysai in Borkeo province to Luang Prabang province (300 km) and Houysai to Guan Lei Port (270 km) in the south of China’s Yunnan province still remain important routes for cargos, passengers and tourists. 

The Department of Waterways, under the Ministry of Public Work and Transport (MPWT), is responsible for policy, planning, and managing all inland waterways in the country. This includes port and navigation channel management, flooding and riverbank protection, and waterways transport.  

River/Lake Port Assessment 

Transport services, both cargos and passengers, are concentrated on the Mekong River but also occur on its large tributaries such as Nam Ou and Se Kong, and on the Nam Ngum reservoir. Dry season flow reduction and natural barriers limit the potential higher-capacity vessels. Much of the river is limited to the vessels with capacity of only 30 tons during the dry season because of limited water depth. On the upper section, some 220 km of navigation channels between the China-Myanmar border and Houysai in Borkeo are able to accommodate vessels of 150 deadweight tonnage (DWT) all year round and the vessels of 200-300 DWT in the wet season.  

Another 300 km section from Houysai to Luang Prabang is navigable for vessels of 60 DWT in the shallow dry season. Between Luang Prabang and Vientiane (430 km), the river is navigable only for vessels of 30 DWT all the year but has difficult sections, even at high water levels. The most easily navigable section is from Vientiane – Thakhek – Savannaket (460 km).  

However, the main barrier along the Mekong is the Khemarat rapids between Savannakhet and Champasak (260 km), which is completely close the river to dry season transport and severely limit rainy season navigability. In the Pakse – Don Deth (in Champasak province) section (160 km), navigation is easier only as far as the Cambodia border where the Khone Falls are an impassable obstacle.  

Laos has twenty-nine river port facilities along the Mekong River and a few ports are located along its tributaries such as Nam Ou, Nam Ngum, Nam Kading, Xe Bang Fai. Four Provincial ports—Xieng Kok, Ban Mom, Houysai (Borkeo), Pak Beng (Oudomxay) and Luang Prabang have been used for international transportation after the Agreement on Commercial Navigation on Lancang-Mekong River among China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. 

Lak Si Port in Vientiane Capital is the largest of these, accommodating from 20,000 to 30,000 tons of freight movement per year. Ports at Houysai, Pak Beng and Luang Prabang each have annual freight movement of about 10,000 tons, with lesser levels of demand at other ports. 

Most of these ports are small and still in their natural condition or consists of reinforced concrete ramp parallel to the riverbank. Lack of facility equipment for loading and unloading cargos, which are usually carried by manpower, the ports are typically used for domestic traffic and trade.  

Demand on freight traffic on the river is on decline due to improvements in transport infrastructures. Since the national Road No. 13 South was improved, river freight traffic between Vientiane Capital and Savannakhet has fallen away, whereas there is still thriving river transport on the section between Vientiane Capital and Luangprabang because the more severe terrain influences road transport costs on that section. Additional factor for the decline is the openings of 1st Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge (Vientiane Capital-Nongkhai) from 1994, 2nd Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge in Pakse (Champasak), 3rd Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge (Savannakhet-Mukdahan), 4th Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge (Borkeo-Chiang Rai) and 5th  Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge (Borlikhamxay-Bueng Khan) is expected to be opened by the end of 2024. 

For more information on government contact details, please see the following link: 4.1 Government Contact List. 

Company Information 

In 2016, there were two types of waterway transport service providers—cargos and passengers. MPWT registered 7 associations and 17 private companies with a combined fleet of 482 vessels that provided water traffic transport with total tonnage of around 2 million. On passenger transport, 7 associations and 28 private companies with 1,973 boats were responsible for transporting nearly 3.4 million passengers.  

Cargo and Passenger Fleet Carrying Capacity 

For more information on waterway company contact details, please see the following link: 4.4 Port and Waterways Companies Contact List. 

Key Route Suitable Vessel Capacity and Travel Time