Cuba: Day four of Matanzas fire; third oil tank explodes

Radio Jamaica News ^ | Aug 9 2022 | staff

[texas booster]

Cubans living in Matanzas continue to deal with a raging fire at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, as a third oil tank exploded yesterday.

At around 1:30 p.m. yesterday, Cubans across the island witnessed an explosion live on national television.

From afar, many said they could feel the heat from the flames coming from the oil storage facility.

Several tanks have collapsed and fires continue to burn at the large oil storage facility, which is about 60 miles from Havana.

Since the fire started on Saturday, nearly 5,000 people have been evacuated.

[texas booster]

This looks like a real economic disaster in the making.

I do find it funny that all of the leftists in Central and South America suggest that the US should put the fire out.

Oh, my mistake.

That was the State Dept and the WH press corpse.

[texas booster]

From another source:

The fire at the Matanzas Supertanker Base has killed at least one person and injured 125 others, with another 14 firefighters still missing. It also forced officials to evacuate more than 4,900 people and shut down a key thermoelectric plant on Monday after it ran out of water, sparking concerns about additional blackouts.

The eight-tank facility plays a crucial role in Cuba’s electric system: it operates an extensive oil pipeline that receives Cuban crude oil that is then ferried to thermoelectric plants that produce electricity. It also serves as the unloading and transshipment center for imported crude oil, fuel oil and diesel.

The facility caught on fire late Friday after lightning struck one of its tanks, sparking several explosions as it spread over the weekend. The first tank was at 50% capacity and contained nearly 883,000 cubic feet (25,000 cubic meters) of fuel. The second tank was full.

[donozark]

Tell ‘em to call the good ‘ol boys in Venezuela .

[texas booster]

A command post near the site of the accident is working in shifts to monitor helicopter cameras flying over the areas at risk and drones tracking the situation.

In addition, specialists from Mexico, Venezuela and Cuba held a meeting this morning to coordinate their ideas in these crucial moments.

In trying to find current pictures of the fire, I am surprised by the communist tilt to all reporting and propaganda. (Not that I should be).

Just looking at the "peoples dispatch" at all of the international solidarity supporting Cuba and Venezuela make me think I am back in an 80's time warp.

[Don Corleone]

Not to worry. Biden will send them the oil from our strategic reserve. They can keep the ship too as we have nothing else to ship and nowhere to send it.

[GaltAdonis]

[HartleyMBaldwin]

Wow, it looks like when someone shoots a pistol at a car on a TV show.

[hanamizu]

When I was a lad there was a big oil fire in Signal Hill, California. At night we could see the explosions of the oil tanks, huge flames reaching into the sky. Went on at least for a couple of days.

[Colt1851Navy]

A burning tank of oil then overfilled with water will just scatter the fire as the burning oil floats on top of the water making a bigger disaster than before.

[Honest Nigerian]

It seems like a metaphor in addition to a climate-threatening catastrophe.
All we need is some St. Greta Thunberg scowling “How dare you!!”

[Grampa Dave]

The Communist-run and heavily U.S. sanctioned country is all but bankrupt and blackouts and shortages of gasoline and other commodities already had created a tense situation with scattered local protests following last summer’s historic unrest in July.

At noon on Monday, authorities announced the country’s most important power plant, located less than a mile from the fire, had been shut down due to low water pressure in the area.

The power grid depends more than 90% on local and imported fuel. Jorge Pinon, director of the University of Texas at Austin’s Latin America and Caribbean Energy and Environment said the fire threatened both.

“The key questions now are where Cuban crude oil production will go to generate fuel for electrical use as it is only connected by pipeline to Matanzas,” Pinon said, adding the facility has an installed capacity of 2.4 million barrels.

A tanker carrying Russian crude to Matanzas, identified by Refinitiv Eikon monitoring service, is unlikely to be able to discharge next week even if docks are not affected by the fire, because of possible damage to tanks, pipelines and valves, analysts said.

Since Matanzas is the only terminal with capacity to receive large vessels, Pinon said, the tanker might be forced to transfer its cargo via ship-to-ship operations so the crude can be refined at the Cienfuegos or Havana refineries, “but it is not clear Cuba has the capacity to do that”.

Residents expressed fear that the crisis will worsen as the hottest months of the year bear down.

“Oh my God, no lights and no gas, that is what this means,” Havana resident Pia Ferrer exclaimed in an upscale neighborhood of Havana.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/third-oil-storage-tank-collapses-cuba-terminal-following-fire-spill-governor-2022-08-08/

[dfwgator]

Guess they’ll have to replace all those 1950s cars with EVs now.

[Oil Object Insp]

With no oil, no access to the deep water port and no tanks, those oil fired power plants will not be making any electricity for Cuba. 90% of their capacity.

[GaltAdonis]

"...the burning oil floats on top of the water making a bigger disaster..."

About 35 years ago a friend of mine was working a construction job
at an oil refinery on the Delaware river in Philadelphia.
One day there was massive flooding due to massive rain.
Gasoline floats, ya know.

So, there was my friend standining three feet of gasoline-covered water -
and one of his idiotic co-workers come driving along
in a company pickup truck through the mess.

My friend screamed:

"TURN THE ENGINE OFF! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD TURN THE ENGINE OFF!!!"

Luckily, the guy did turn off the engine - and nothing exploded that day.

But there have been some major fires at those Philly refineries over the years.