One of two ships loaded with automobiles made a run for safety early Tuesday afternoon as the eye of Texas-sized Hurricane Dean bore down on the Gulf Coast port of Veracruz.
The Hoeghtroter, with a cargo of 1,620 tons of cars on board, left the port for an unknown destination, Antonio Burgueno, the port’s captain, told Automotive News.
But a second ship, the Eurasian Brilliance, with a cargo of 898 tons of cars on board, was still in port, the captain said just before 3 p.m. local time (4 p.m. EDT). “We wish it would leave,” Burgueno said. “It’s a big ship, about 180 meters long, and could cause major damage to the dock and to itself if the hurricane hits here.”
Burguen did not know which brands of automobiles were on the two ships. He said the port would be closed to all shipping by 6:20 p.m. local time (7:20 p.m. EDT) as the port’s authorities braced themselves for Dean’s expected arrival Wednesday.
“It’s probably going to hit us,” Burgueno said as the storm headed across the Gulf of Mexico after crossing the Yucatan Peninsula early this morning.
Most major North American automakers now produce vehicles in central Mexico. Volkswagen AG’s plant in Puebla is the closest assembly operation to Veracruz, about 186 miles west of the port.
Crucial port
Veracruz is a crucial shipping and receiving port for Mexico’s burgeoning auto industry; 527,795 vehicles moved through the port in 2006, according to the port’s administrators. Mexico produced 1.37 million cars and 672,000 trucks in 2006.
Burgueno says Dean is likely to be a Category 3 hurricane by the time it reaches Mexico’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday, Aug. 22. A Category 3 hurricane packs winds of between 111 and 130 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Ships waiting to enter Veracruz are being ordered to sail north, away from the hurricane’s projected path, Burgeno says.
Ramon Suarez, president of INA, Mexico’s national suppliers association, says he has received no reports of interruptions in parts shipments to the United States or elsewhere.
As for possible damage to supplier plants, he says: “Below Puebla there’s only one supplier and that’s in the state of Chiapas (some distance inland from Dean’s path). They make harnesses.”
Dean slammed the Yucatan Peninsula, close to the resort of Chetumal, at about 3:30 a.m. (CDT) today with 165 mph winds.
According to The Weather Channel, it was the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the Atlantic basin since Hurricane Andrew struck southern Florida in 1992. The storm was reduced to Category 2 this morning but is expected to increase in power as it returns to the gulf.
No dealership damage
There were no early reports of damage to auto dealerships in the area. “We have no reports from the peninsula yet, which in itself is good news,” says Gustavo Cespedes, marketing and product planning director for General Motors in Mexico.
Ford Motor Co. spokesman Herman Morfin in Mexico City says: “We will not be able to identify the total damage until the hurricane has passed by completely.”
Tourist resorts such as Playa del Carmen and Cancun, devastated by Hurricane Wilma in 2005, appeared to escape major damage as Dean moved quickly across the Yucatan Peninsula.
“No human losses have been reported,” President Felipe Calderon says.
Litter and leaves were scattered on the streets in Playa del Carmen, where tired tourists emerged at first light after an uncomfortable night in a hotel converted to a shelter for 400 people.
