Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - The Port Captains of Puerto Vallarta and Barra de Navidad recently announced that they are participating, in coordination with state and municipal Civil Protection Agencies along with civilians and military in the West Coast region, in hurricane preparedness - before the start of the 2011 Pacific hurricane season.

Hurricane season runs from May 15th through the 30th of November. Forecasters have predicted there will be 17 hurricane events this year.

The Port Captains of both ports have announced that they will have land and sea patrols equipped with sideband radio, VHF communications, portable computing equipment, power plants, binoculars, and other equipment that will enable them to perform constant monitoring of the weather.

Both port authorities announced that they have issued instructions, according to several articles of the Law of Navigation and Maritime Commerce, that will enable nautical tourism service providers to be in constant contact with up-to-date weather data via the VHF channels (13 in Puerto Vallarta and 10 and 16 in Barra de Navidad.)

First, Human Life

The Minister of Communications and Transport (SCT) reported that from 15 May to 30 November, the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Navy will carry out Operation Hurricane 2011.

He said the first goal is to safeguard human life at sea and national waters, which includes measures aimed at protecting the safety of the maritime and port community, and to provide appropriate, timely and coordinated response to emergencies.

The SCT recommended that all nautical personnel be kept aware of warnings and weather reports, and he stressed the importance of their acknowledgment of receipt of warnings, as required by regulations for the preventive and corrective maintenance of their vessels.

In addition, among other measures designed to ensure the safety of passengers and crew, he recommended nautical personnel review their safety measures, and to report their departures and returns to the Port Authority and Maritime Traffic Control.

Risks

He stressed that among the actions that make up Operation Hurricane 2010, all vessel Captains are to identify and assess internal and external risks to which they are exposed in the port area, and to maintain a permanent campaign of vessel inspections for compliance with existing rules. They are required to ensure that the equipment carried on board is stated in each vessel's Certificate of Safety, and to disseminate information related to the season.

After a storm, the Port Captains will submit maps of the weather damage with detailed information about events before, during and after the meteorological impact, including affected persons and damage to vessels, port infrastructure and maritime signals.

2011 Mexican Pacific Hurricane Forecast

In the Mexican Pacific, 13 major meteorological events are predicted this season, seven of which are expected to be named storms, five hurricanes and two lower intensity tropical storms.

The names to be used for storms this year are: Adrian, Beatriz, Calvin, Dora, Eugene, Fernanda, Greg, Hilary, Irwin, Jova, Kenneth, Lidia, Max, Norma, Otis, Pilar, Ramon, Selma, Todd, Veronica, Willy, Xena, York and Zelda.