Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published Aug 8, 2022 7:24 PM by The Maritime Executive

The fire at Cuba's Matanzas tank farm has spread to two more giant storage tanks, bringing the total to four and increasing the complexity and challenge of the firefighting response.

The fire started with a lightning strike on one tank at the Matanzas Supertanker Base east of Havana on Friday night. On Saturday morning, the heat and fire from the burning tank ignited the adjacent tank, causing a massive explosion which left more than 120 injured and 17 missing. 

Late Sunday night, the second tank collapsed after about 40 hours of burning, leading to a sudden release of fuel and an accelerated rate of combustion. The light from the explosion could be seen as far away as the Havana boardwalk, according to social media posts.

In the early hours of Monday morning, another massive blast occurred as the fire ignited a third tank. The smoke initially obscured the tank and made evaluation difficult, but Cuban officials confirmed the incident later in the day. 

"The risk that we had announced occurred and the fire that was in the second tank compromised the third tank, which is now on fire, functioning as an Olympic cauldron, like a stove, with very little visibility because there is a lot of smoke," said the governor of Matanzas, Mario Sabines Lorenzo, in a statement carried by state media. 

#ÚLTIMAHORA Se intensifica el fuego en la zona industrial de #Matanzas Una gran columna de humo y fuego se eleva sobre la zona industrial de la bahía yumurina pic.twitter.com/dxEVOnyRFp

In a press conference late Monday, firefighting chief Lt. Col. Alexander Ávalos Jorge said that the fire had "compromised" a fourth tank and that the timeline for extinguishing the blaze remains uncertain.

The government of Venezuela has dispatched a 5,000 GPM portable firepump to assist with the effort. Once set up, it will be used to spray firefighting foam on the tank fire. In addition, crews are preparing earthen berms to contain fuel spills and prevent the further spread of the fire. In the meantime, Cuban officials have dispatched cropdusting airplanes and helicopters to deliver small quantities of water over the fire. 

The United States government has a tense relationship with Cuba, but in a statement, Cuba's president said Sunday that the U.S. had offered technical advice on fighting the fire, which had been accepted. On Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Havana added that it is "standing by in case Cuba requires humanitarian or technical assistance from the United States."

Published Aug 12, 2022 3:25 PM by The Maritime Executive

For the second time this year, Indonesia has banned the export of coal saying it was falling short of its domestic targets. While the current move is only a partial ban against some miners it nonetheless comes at a difficult time raising concerns both in the bulker community and especially in Europe where the EU’s phased-in ban on Russian energy expanded this week to include a total ban on Russian coal imports. The Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister announced...

Published Aug 12, 2022 2:09 PM by The Maritime Executive

Greek bulker owner Diana Shipping has made a bold statement in its efforts to both grow and modernize its operations. The company, which primarily employs its fleet on short to medium-term time charters and transport a range of dry bulk cargoes, reached an agreement to buy nine bulkers currently owned by Sea Trade Holdings which will increase Diana’s capacity by more than 10 percent. The vessels, which make up Sea Trade’s entire fleet are also about half the average age...

Published Aug 12, 2022 12:59 PM by The Maritime Executive

South Korea’s minister responsible for overseeing the government’s policy toward the shipping industry is calling for the privatization of South Korean shipping company HMM while the market remains strong. In an interview with South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper, Cho Seung-hwan, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, said it does not help the industry for the company to be state-owned, especially at a time when the company is reporting strong profits. HMM is currently ranked by Alphaliner as the eighth largest ocean...

Published Aug 12, 2022 12:46 PM by Peter Keller

All alternative marine fuels share a common decarbonization pathway beginning with fossil or fossil-derived fuels, also known as "gray” fuels, and ending with renewable synthetic e-fuels, also known as “green” fuels. For some fuels, this pathway also includes a biogenic fuel mid-point. While fuels share a common pathway, they are all at differing points on that path in terms of technological and operational readiness, safety or commercial availability. Given this, it is...

© Copyright 2022 The Maritime Executive, LLC. All rights reserved.