Maritime Half Hull Ship Models and Nautical Art

The Orinoco is one of the longest rivers in South America at 2,410 km, (1,497.5 miles). Its drainage basin, sometimes called the Orinoquia (especially in Colombia) covers 880,000 km², 76.3% in Venezuela with the rest in Colombia. The Orinoco and its tributaries are the major transportation system for eastern and interior Venezuela and the llanos of Colombia. However, since river navigation is declining in every country, many of the old waterways along the Orinoco watershed are now an obstacle to land communications more than a useful commercial route.


Although the mouth of the Orinoco in the Atlantic Ocean was discovered by Columbus on 1 August 1498 during his third voyage, its source at the Cerro Delgado-Chalbaud, in the Parima range, on the Venezuelan-Brazilian border, at 1,047 m of elevation ( [show location on an interactive map] 02°19′05″N, 63°21′42″W ), was only explored in 1951, 453 years later, by a joint Venezuelan-French team.

The delta of the Orinoco, and tributaries in the eastern llanos such as the Apure and Meta, were explored in the 16th century by German expeditions under Ambrosius Ehinger and his successors. In 1531 Diego de Ordaz, starting at the principal outlet in the delta, the Boca de Navios, sailed up the river to the Meta, and Antonio de Berrio sailed down the Casanare, to the Meta, and then down the Orinoco and back to Coro.


Alexander von Humboldt explored the basin in 1800, reporting on the pink river dolphins, and publishing extensively on the flora and fauna. From an environmental point of view, this space constitutes a natural reservoir that shelters a remarkable ecosystem with great variety of species of plants, birds, reptiles -including the turtle “arrau” (Podocnemis espansa) in serious risk of extinction- and aquatic mammals, emphasizing sirenians like the almost extinct “manatí” and cetaceans like the “tonina” or “boto” and the “delfín negro” or “delfín de río” (black dolphin or river dolphin), frequently found in the Orinoco river basin and its affluents.

The river is navigable for most of its length, and dredging enables ocean ships to go as far as Ciudad Bolívar, the confluence of the Caroní River, 435 km upstream. River steamers carry cargo as far as Puerto Ayacucho and the Atures Rapids