Port of Mexico

Mexico destination for sea transport

The most important port in Mexico is that of Veracruz in the state of Veracruz. The city of Veracruz is located directly on the Gulf of Mexico in the Atlantic Ocean and has over 800,000 inhabitants. It is about 450 km from the Mexican capital Mexico City and about 90 km from Xalapa, the capital of the state of Veracruz.

The port area of Veracruz is the traditional production centre of the Mexican food industry and the metal processing industry. Veracruz is also the largest economic centre in the region. As the oldest city foundation of the Spaniards in Mexico, Veracruz has been the gateway to the New World since the 16th century and is therefore still the most important import port in Mexico. Other important ports of Mexico are the ports of Mazatlán on the Pacific Ocean and Tuxpan on the Atlantic Ocean. Mazatlán, in the state of Sinaloa in western Mexico, is located on the Gulf of California and has a population of about 500,000. Its port facilities are the largest on Mexico's west coast. They are mainly used for fishing. It is home to one of the world's largest tuna fishing fleets. Another main focus of Mazatlán's fisheries is on shrimps, which are shipped from there to the USA. Tuxpan is a town in the state of Veracruz on the banks of the river Río Tuxpán, which after about 11 kilometres flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

Tuxpan's port facility is divided into a grain port (soya and corn) and an offshore off-shore branch for the transfer of oil from pipelines to oil tankers. There, a Mexican state oil company (PEMEX) builds and maintains oil platforms which are intended for use in the Gulf. In the inner harbour of Tuxpan, mainly goods are handled whose destination is the Mexican capital Mexico City. Due to its proximity to the capital, Tuxpan plays a major role in handling goods for the Mexican import and export trade. Tuxpán has been the base base of the Mexican Gulf Fleet since the relocation of the Naval Headquarters. The transfer to Tuxpan was made due to the enormous increase in trade traffic in the port of Veracruz. In 1956, Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl set sail from Tuxpan with their motor yacht for Cuba to start the revolution.