A fire at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, the scene of the largest industrial disaster on the island last August, set off alarms at sunset this Monday. Unlike on other occasions, the official press was quick to offer information.
So the newspaper Giron, twenty minutes after the fire broke out, explained that this started specifically in “one of the oil pumps located in the port.” The event occurred specifically at 6:40 p.m., according to that note.
“Immediately, the fire system in the area itself was activated and the warning plan was activated, with the area’s firefighters immediately arriving. The procedures were carried out as established, closing the system and removing the current, despite not being something that happen often,” he explained. Giron, which added that the fire was already under control and no injuries were reported.
In statements collected by Cubadebate, the governor of Matanzas, Mario Sabines Lorenzo, said that “we acted quickly” and that “from the beginning, the fire did not compromise the so-called base of clear fuels or the ship stranded in the port.” According to Vesselfinder, one of the ship geolocation pages, the oil tanker Caribbean Alliance, flying the Panamanian flag, it entered the port that same day, May 1.
According to Vesselfinder, one of the ship geolocation pages, the oil tanker ‘Caribbean Alliance’, with the Panamanian flag, entered the port that same day, May 1.
The haste of the official explanations contrasts with the opacity that occurred when, on August 5, a fire started in one of the tanks at the Matanzas Base that would destroy half of the tanks and it would cost the lives of 17 peopleseveral of them, young people who were undergoing compulsory military service.
without mentioning them, Granma published at the beginning of last April that the works had started reconstruction of the industrial facility.
The newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba I had already explained months ago that the new deposits would have more security measures. For example, the diameter of the tanks will be less than that destroyed and they will have an underground electrical system. This, without alluding to the fact that the official cause given for the fire in August was a ruling in the lightning rod system.
In addition, the distance between the new deposits will be 110 meters, almost four times more than before. Until now, the authorities have not recognized that the short distance between the tanks could have been one of the factors in the severity of the incident, as they pointed out numerous experts at the time.
Other new measures implemented will be the size of the containment dam, greater than the capacity of the tank, “in such a way that, in the event of a spill, all the crude remains concentrated there”, and that this dam is assembled “with earth covered with concrete, quality that prevents the collapse of that structure when it is attacked by fire”.
Lastly, he assured Granma, the base will have “more powerful foam cannons” and “a new position for firefighters in an emergency, established at a greater distance from the vessel.”
Only the works of the first tank have an expected duration of 16 months.
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