A fire broke out this Friday in one of the tanks at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, located in the Industrial Zone of the province, according to the Girón Newspaper on its Facebook profile. The incident was controlled by the Fire Department with the support of cooperating forces from the Ministry of the Interior and other agencies, with no casualties reported.
According to the media from Matanzas, the fire started during maintenance work on a tank that was completely empty. "While maintenance was being carried out on an empty tank of the entity, an accident occurred, causing a fire that was controlled by the forces of the Fire Department and other cooperators from the Ministry of the Interior and other agencies," Girón specified.
Authorities ruled out any significant risk. According to the same outlet, "the incident poses no danger of spread, either for nearby residents," a reassurance that official sources were quick to disseminate in light of the inevitable alarm caused by any incident at that facility.
The Supertankers Base in Matanzas bears the weight of the largest industrial disaster in recent Cuban history. On August 5, 2022, a lightning strike hit tank 52 of the facility, triggering a fire that spread to other storage tanks and devastated four of the eight tanks at the base. The toll was 17 deaths, over 140 injuries, and estimated material losses of around 66 million dollars. The fire took until August 12 to be extinguished, with support from international brigades.
Since then, the installation has been undergoing reconstruction. With the participation of Cuban and Chinese brigades, construction is underway for four new tanks of 50,000 cubic meters each, to restore a total storage capacity of 200,000 cubic meters. In September 2025, Chinese workers were placing the domes on the new tanks. The completion of the works was projected for this year.
In April 2026, the state company CUPET reported that work was being done on the repair of another tank, with an intervention expected to conclude in May. This is not the first scare the area has experienced since 2022: in June 2024, a fire broke out in the nearby vegetation, which was controlled without any material or human damage.
The new incident occurs at a particularly sensitive time for Cuba. The island is experiencing a deep energy crisis, with prolonged blackouts and fuel shortages affecting the entire population. The Supertankers Base is a strategic infrastructure for the storage of oil and its derivatives, so any mishap at its facilities has direct repercussions on the already deteriorated national energy system.
The collective trauma left by the tragedy of 2022 is still present. On August 5th, the fourth anniversary of the disaster, homage was paid to the 17 deceased at the base. Just five weeks later, flames once again lit up the horizon of Matanzas, although this time, according to the authorities, without the devastating consequences that marked that night in August 2022.
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