Puerto Cortės in a town on the north (Atlantic) coast of Honduras. Originally known as Puerto de Caballos, the present town was founded in the early colonial period. It grew rapidly in the twentieth century, thanks to railroad development and banana production. It is Honduras’s main sea port and it is considered the most important seaport in Central America. As of 2008, Puerto Cortés has a population of some 165,000.
In August, Puerto Cortés celebrates its local or patronal festivities during two weeks. The last day (a Saturday) is known as Noche Veneciana (Venice’s night). August 15 is a local holiday in honour of Virgen de la Asunción (Puerto Cortés local patroness or saint). In September 2001, the Bridge La Laguna (The lagoon) was rebuilt and inaugurated, the old bridge (a 50 years old structure) was badly damaged in 1998 by Hurricane Mitch and was demolished. A concrete wall that surrounds and protects a portion of the coastline in the bay area, was built close to the north end of Bridge La Laguna, this wall is known as El Malecón, the Spanish word for ‘jetty’ or ‘pier’. The first four-lane highway in Honduras was inaugurated in 1996, connecting Puerto Cortés and the city of San Pedro Sula.
In 1966, the Empresa Nacional Portuaria (Honduras National Port Authority) was created. A free trade zone was created in 1976. Among all worldwide seaports that export containers with goods with destination to U.S.A., Puerto Cortés is the 36th in terms of volume. Because of its proximity to U.S. seaports in the Gulf of Mexico and on the East Coast and its outstanding seaport infrastructure, Puerto Cortés was included in the U.S. Container Security Initiative (CSI), the first such port in Central America. In December 2005, the U.S. government signed an agreement with Honduras’s government and opened a U.S. Customs Office in Puerto Cortés. Under this agreement, all containers exported from Puerto Cortés that are destined for any U.S. seaport are checked by U.S. Customs officials in Honduras.
On December 7, 2006, the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Energy (DOE) announced the first phase of the Secure Freight Initiative, an unprecedented effort to build upon existing port security measures by enhancing the US federal government’s ability to scan containers for nuclear and radiological materials overseas and to better assess the risk of inbound containers. The initial phase of Secure Freight involves the deployment of a combination of existing technology and proven nuclear detection devices to six foreign ports: Port Qasim in Pakistan; Puerto Cortés in Honduras; Southampton in the United Kingdom; Port Salalah in Oman; Port of Singapore; and the Gamman Terminal at Port Busan in Korea.
Beginning in early 2007, containers from these ports will be scanned for radiation and information risk factors before they are allowed to depart for the United States. In March 2007, under the Megaport initiative, three RPMs (Radiation Portal Monitors) were already installed in Puerto Cortés by U.S. DOE in order to inspect all containers with destination to USA, checking for possible dangerous radioactive threats. On April 2, 2007 the RPMs became operative.
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