Matanzas-The works to restore the first of the four tanks damaged in the tragic fire at the Super Tanker Base will begin this month.
In an area whose image is nothing like the one left by the fatal accident last August, it is planned to level the land until meeting the required demand and once the base and its foundations have been built, the mechanical assembly of the tank will begin, which is estimated to be in the month of April.
According to experts, the execution strategy will make it possible to recover the lost storage capacity of 200,000 cubic meters within four years.
Liber Sams Toledo, head of the investment office, said that the connection of the first tank marks the start of the second stage of the recovery of this section of the so-called industrial zone of the city of Matanzas.
To build the new structure, which is expected to be completed in 16 months, there is a specialized force and the required materials and supplies are available, he assured.
A striking detail is that although its diameter is slightly smaller, it is a tank very similar to the demolished ones, including the internal floating aluminum membrane and the geodesic dome, but in conditions to operate the fuels with greater safety, since it will also have an underground electrical system.
He noted that the distance between them will be about 110 meters, almost four times greater than the previous one. Another marked difference is related to the containment basin or dike, which will be larger than the capacity of the tank, so that, in the event of a spill, all the crude oil will be concentrated there.
Specialists also praise the fact that the dike will be built with concrete-lined earth, which will prevent the structure from collapsing when it is hit by fire.
The new base is also distinguished by the fact that it will have more powerful foam cannons and a new position for firefighters in the event of an emergency, established at a greater distance from the container.
FULL RECOVERY ENVIRONMENT
For engineer Rigel Rodríguez, director of the Fuel Commercialization Territorial Division, a very valuable detail, as indicated by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, is the intention to maintain everything that is restored and to leave things better than they were.
The executive stressed that they have worked hard to transform the face of a scene that was badly hit by the fire for several days, and that today exhibits an atmosphere of recovery, where the demolition phase of the damaged objects and buildings, and the sanitation of contaminated areas, is practically completed.
The visual image says it all, the Base and the whole industrial zone have a completely different aspect, in which cleanliness, painting and new signage stand out, he commented after insisting on the purpose of achieving more resistant projects in which all the systems interlock and show vitality in the face of accidents of any nature.
Another element to point out is the reestablishment of communications services in a definitive way; electricity and water are not fully supplied yet, but there are some temporary solutions because they require investments to reach the maximum demand, said Rodriguez.
One of the good news is the reestablishment of two main lines to communicate the docks with the Base, that is to say, the 20-inch diameter pipeline that carries the diesel to the tanks in the residual area, and the 24-inch line that makes possible the passage of the crude to other vital points.
The progress of the program to assist the victims of the fire has an even more sensitive impact. A few weeks ago, construction began on 26 prefabricated Sandino-type houses with zinc roofs for the affected families.
Idobaldo Díaz Martínez, coordinator of objectives and programs of the provincial government, said that of these houses, located in an area near what used to be the Enrique Hart high school, on the outskirts of the city, nine will be delivered before the end of January, and the rest by the end of March.
After the fire in the industrial zone, the families with the greatest material damages were moved to a temporary facility, and received, like the rest of those affected, with basic necessities, household appliances and other means to mitigate the heavy losses, he said.
NEW LINES
In the reestablishment of the vital operations of the Supertanker Base, in the change of that atmosphere rarefied by the uncertainty left by the accident, the workers of EMCOR Matanzas have had a lot to do.
To date, says the brigade chief, Alexis Pavón Verdecia, they have already interconnected more than 2,000 meters of pipes of different diameters, underground and overhead, new lines that displaced the defective ones as a consequence of the fire.
He noted that they are currently in the completion phase of the interconnection of the 16-inch line, which will give vitality to other areas, and will successively guarantee capacities in the operations of the system in this important economic enclave.
Pavón Verdecia makes sure that everything is done as established, and despite the hard working conditions, under the constant harassment of the sun, he does not lose sight of how the welders achieve the final assembly of the pipelines.
Here it is important to be precise and to make the required welding passes, he says.
In spite of the annoyance of working in the open field, sometimes without being able to protect themselves from the sun's rays, the members of Pavón’s brigade have the strength to take on the challenge of rigorously joining large pipes every day, some of which are already providing vitality to the Supertanker Base.
Sams Toledo reminds us that the investment program for the integral recovery of the enclave is made up of 14 work objects, which include the completion of interconnections with the docks, the construction of the tanks and the new testing laboratory, as well as the resizing of the electrical system and the rehabilitation of the maintenance workshops, with new mechanical, electrical and machining units, among other works.
Its completion will depend, to a large extent, on the greatest possible capacity of efforts, without discarding the support of university centers, and that they can add research groups, engineers and technicians with vast experience in everything they do, as requested by Díaz-Canel.
Persevering and doing things in the best way would be, in addition, a well-deserved tribute to those who gave their own lives to prevent the Supertanker Base from being left in ruins.
