Investment Process Advances at the Supertanker Base

The investment schedule at the Supertanker Base seems to have entered a culminating moment, judging by the assembly of several elements to continue the recovery of the 200,000 cubic meters of fuel storage capacity.

Among the latest major actions announced on the Facebook profile of the Matanzas Oil Maintenance Company (Empet) are the installation works of the membrane of tank 87 (TQ-87), the last of the four deposits to begin construction in June 2025.

After beginning the assembly of the lightning rod tower last August, in September the works gave continuity to this same construction object, to continue the path of fully concluding a process that includes tanks TQ-88, 49.1, and 86, which would return to their functions the quartet lost when the August 2022 fire, which ended in material damage and, more regrettably, in human losses.

Empet sources have noted that, unlike the original design, the new tanks differ in height and diameter, and are distributed on two separate platforms at a distance of 110 meters — a breadth that, in case of spillage, would prevent the fuel from spreading.

Workforces from Cuba and China have collaborated in the execution of these replacements and their facilities, and personnel from the Ministry of Construction and the No. 4 Military Construction Company, among other groups, have also participated in the construction of the internal roads.

With the Matanzas Fuel Commercialization Territorial Division Basic Business Unit as investor, the recovery works also include the reestablishment of operational facilities from the Supertanker area, wastewater, and terminal 320 to the docks, for water supply to the fire-fighting system, among other objectives to accompany operations with greater safety.

Empet is responsible for building, repairing, and maintaining the storage capacities of hydrocarbons and their derivatives.

Progress at this important enclave of the Matanzas industrial zone is visible despite the impact on supplies that this investment could suffer due to the consequences of the intensified economic, commercial, and financial war of the United States government against Cuba.