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Venezuela to assist Cuba with reconstruction of Matanzas port damaged by five-day fire

Cuba’s largest port for crude oil and fuel imports was heavily damaged in a fire that started on August 5 after lightning struck a storage tank. The fire, finally extinguished five days later, destroyed four of eight crude oil tanks at the Matanzas port, located about 130 km from Havana.

Both Mexico and Venezuela sent firefighters to help battle the enormous fire.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has now promised his country’s support as Cuba rebuilds its only supertanker port. Maduro directed both Venezuela’s oil minister and the president of state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) to work with their counterparts in Cuba to “begin the design of the reconstruction of the supertanker yard.”

Elaborating, he said, “We are going to design where it will be built, where the loading yard will be and begin the construction.”

The loss of oil at the port – Cuba’s only one able to handle tankers over 100,000 dwt – has exacerbated problems for the country’s oil-fired electrical grid.

Kim Biggar

Kim Biggar started writing in the supply chain sector in 2000, when she joined the Canadian Association of Supply Chain & Logistics Management. In 2004/2005, she was project manager for the Government of Canada-funded Canadian Logistics Skills Committee, which led to her 13-year role as communications manager of the Canadian Supply Chain Sector Council. A longtime freelance writer, Kim has contributed to publications including The Forwarder, 3PL Americas, The Shipper Advocate and Supply Chain Canada.
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