Talk:Puerto Cortés

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Can we also reference this article under Puerto Cortez, that seems to be a common alternative spelling for the port. Adam777 14:26, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Sounds reasonable. You can go ahead and make Wikipedia:redirects yourself, or ask if you need help. Cheers, -- Infrogmation 22:58, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Water Depth of Puerto Cortes

The article mentions that Puerto Cortes is the deepest of Honduras and Central American ports. Although I don't have a link to it, I know from personal experience two things. Puerto Castilla in Honduras is way deeper than Puerto Cortes (Don't know about other Hondurans or Central American ports). Larger ships can and have docked at Castilla. Also Puerto Cortes has to be continuosly dredged, which is not the case with Castilla. Wikihonduras 02:13, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

I donn't know why it reads "deepest" when as far as I can tell, the consensus is that it is "one of the deepest" but not the deepest, and currently the largest sea port in Central America. I thought it was La Ceiba that needs to be continuosly dredged, not Puerto Cortes. Many also believe that Puerto Castilla will one day surpass it in importance. Right now Puerto Castilla is a modern, deep water port (designed for easy US Navy deployment during the Contra war) but its poorly connected to the rest of Honduras and Central America. The road from Trujillo to La Ceiba and San Pedro Sula gets cut many times during each and every rainy season. Also, the "dry canal" initiative which brings cargo overland from Puerto Cortes to the Salvadoran port on the Gulf of Fonseca may help keep Puerto Cortes as the most important port in Central America. BTW, the military airstrip between Puerto Castilla and Trujillo is located where Columbus first set foot in Honduras and said the first mass on the new world continent. I managed to do a quick archaeological survey as the SEEBEEs were building the base, but they'd already bulldozed the beach area by the time I talked my way onto the base (I was a acting on behalf of the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History)in 1983. Rsheptak 02:57, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

I agree on the port size, but would have to disagree on the depth. I actually consulted on the dredge process of Puerto Cortes quite a few times while technically assisting the Honduran Navy. Also financed a local businessman who had a long term contract with the ENP (Empresa Nacional Portuaria) for dredging the bay. Later ENP purchased their own equipment to dredge the bay, which they do to this day. If I recall correctly even with a complete dredge, vessels reaching PANAMAX limits (40ft draft) could not dock in Cortes. I also worked on the modernization of their civilian port and the building of their naval base in Castilla while in the Navy. During the Contra war in Nicaragua, the US Army created a training center just 20 Kilometers from Trujillo in Silin, Colon called CREM (Centro Regional de Entrenamiento Militar) Were US Special Forces trained the military from Honduran and El Salvador in the early 80's, I visited the base at that time (No contras though). The base closed after a few years. Contras had a training base in Islas del Cisne (Swan Islands) which I also had the opportunity to visit Wikihonduras 03:24, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Yup, CREM was thought to have been built on Selin Farm, an archaeological site partially investigated by Paul Healy. I tried to verify that, but was not permitted on the base, as the area I would have had to check was being used for artillery and mortar practice. To this day I don't know if the site still exists. As for Puerto Cortes, you've got the direct experience, I only have impressions. There are several web pages that state that it is "one of the deepest" but none that I would consider authoratative.Rsheptak 23:02, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

The land after some litigation initiated by an American of name Temistocles Ramirez (I believe) was trasnfered to an NGO or "campesino" group. The base was relocated to a nearby location in Agua Amarilla (Unless my memory fails me) just a few miles accros the main road. It is now under Honduran command as the XV infantry batallion, under the name of...Xatruch. Wikihonduras 01:55, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, there was a munitions storage area there in 1983. Rsheptak 17:24, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Now...Is the statement "one of the deepest" undeniably incorrect ? Is a bit difficult to say definitely yes, since I don't know the depth of other ports in Central America...For the meantime at least we should keep the qualifier "is the deepest" out. I will do some digging to check how other ports measure against Pto. Cortes. Wikihonduras 02:03, 17 April 2007 (UTC)