Cuba's Matanzas Supertankers Base Marks Four-Year Anniversary of 2022 Fire

On August 5, 2022 a lightning strike hit tank 52 at the Matanzas Supertankers Base, igniting 26,000 m³ of crude and triggering a series of explosions that burned for four days. The disaster destroyed four of the eight large storage tanks, killed 17 firefighters, workers and conscripts, and injured more than 140 people.

Four years later the Ministry of Higher Education and the Central Army of the Revolutionary Armed Forces commemorated the tragedy, honoring the victims and outlining the reconstruction plan. The plan calls for new storage capacity of about 200,000 m³, increased spacing between tanks, underground electrical systems and a new lightning‑protection system installed with Venezuelan technical assistance. New metal structures now dominate the site, but the rebuilt tanks have not yet been certified or put back into operation, and the type of fuel they will hold remains unclear. The United States, Mexico and Venezuela provided technical and firefighting assistance during the original incident.