International cooperative efforts with United States to strengthen and secure maritime commerce in the Americas have build up Puerto Cortes to a modern, equipped port facility, ready to carry out scans and inspections of shipping containers for nuclear or radiological materials. 

The ongoing pilot program organized in Puerto Cortes is part of the first phase of the Secure Freight Initiative (SFI), which intends to supply nuclear detection devices to six foreign ports. Puerto Cortes, Honduras, and Port Qasim, Pakistan, have the distinction of being the first to become operational and able to protect the global supply chain the security necessary to match contemporary threats.

Loading and inspection of cargo at the port have become compliant to national and international security frameworks and standards, modernizing the infrastructure to make it a safe and agile world class seaport.  U.S. Homeland Security Department Deputy Secretary, Michael Jackson, believes the existing danger to global commerce, and U.S. national security in particular, may come from the vulnerability of ports open to free and open trade, “Terrorists and Criminals use global shipping networks, and we are deploying multiple layers of advanced technology to counter their tactics.

Secure Freights creates a global nuclear detection network with shippers, carriers and foreign allies to head off the worst possible form of attack, a nuclear or dirty bomb on our soil. We are deeply grateful to the governments of Honduras and Pakistan...for their strong leadership on this effort.”  

General Manager of the National Ports Company (Empresa Nacional Portuaria), Edwin Aranque, has affirmed to the international press that Puerto Cortes is now ready to take on the rigours of a higher volume of container traffic to ensure the security of cargo inbound for the U.S or Latin-American, “This is a historic accomplishment that confirms the strategic [importance] of Cortes, now that it is a mega-port, for the security of internal commerce.” He maintains that the port has reached this status after a considerable period of reform and training that have brought it up to code with International Maritime Organization initiatives to protect ships and port installations, “The certification of our mega-port signifies the consolidation of the security program which we have followed.”  

Government sources hat have worked closely with the project state that the port improvements will be of great service to the local community, offering training and new jobs for its citizens; they add that the new security standards and infrastructure refurbishments have created Puerto Cortes into a stronger and more competitive harbour in the Atlantic. “This port is a completely protected place; it is the start of a challenge, we will have all the necessary technology installed so that each container that leaves or enters through Puerto Cortes will be appropriately searched. I can say that the port is necessary for the further development of the country through offering an optimal service to its clients. There will be greater quickness in cargo inspection operations, which will generate more business, investment, job opportunities, and income. Puerto Cortes, is the thirty-seventh port with most commercial movement to the U.S..”  
 
Honduras went through a long and thorough process of certification before the Safe Container Initiative went operational. Port oversight institutions were created to boost the effectiveness and training of the security of the staff. The Unit of Port Protection, closed circuit systems for migration and infiltration control, the installation of gamma ray machinery, the goal to scan 100% of all cargo are a few new programs set in place before the pilot program commenced. A United States, in collaboration with the Honduran government, has placed American-controlled custom offices in the premises, under the auspices of the Container Security Initiative (CSI).

Honduras participates with the United States Security and State Services in the Container Security Initiative, a program designed to identify high risk containers, based on advanced information and strategic intelligence, the pre-screening and evaluation of containers before they are shipped, the use of technology to ensure quick screening without slowing down the movement of trade, and the use of smarter containers that can detect tampering of cargo, are all core elements of the CSI program. 

According to the Department of Homeland Security forty percent of all incoming trade to the U.S. arrives by ship, and most trading nations depend on containerized shipping for the transportation of manufactured goods, and so they must be protected with modern programs that meet new security threats. Secretary Michael Chertoff has explained the importance of securing all public and private sectors that are vulnerable to a possible terrorist attack or the transport of a nuclear or radiological weapon in recent public statements to the international press, “Clearly we are at war, and we are at war not just to defend our country and our people, but to defend freedom of thought for every place in the world. I’m reminded of the fact of that war every single morning, when I sit down and I look at the day’s threat assessments and intelligence, all of which are evidence of a militarized, networked enemy, intent on attacking our homeland and destroying our values. Our highest priority and greatest sense of urgency has to be aimed at preventing a nuclear weapon or dirty bomb attack against the homeland. This initiative advances a comprehensive strategy to secure the global supply chain and cut off any possibility of exploitation by terrorists. I appreciate the commitment of our international allies in sharing more information and harmonizing our risk reduction efforts.”