Syrian Sailor Documents Iraqi Tanker Explosion

Two foreign tankers carrying Iraqi oil were engulfed in flames near Umm Qasr Port, Iraq, after being hit by projectiles, according to news reports citing officials.

Iraq’s director of the General Company for Ports, Farhan al-Fartousi told the Wall Street Journal Iraq had closed all of its oil ports and oil had spilled at sea.

yahoo.com - Syrian sailor documents iraqi tanker

Interesting that Iran said it would set ships trying to run the strait afire. I wonder if they read the same book I did, nearly 60 years ago: when the SAS started, in North Africa, their primary mission was attacking German and Italian airfields. They wanted a device that would both explode, and set things on fire. They ended up concocting a mix of plastic explosive, and Thermite. Worked well. Their bombs would blow a chunk out of the airplane, then set what was left burning. Seems that would work pretty well in a shell or drone warhead, used on a ship: blow a hole in the bulkhead, then splatter burning Thermite around. Steel ships burn better than you would imagine.

Interesting tidbit on the news tonight. Beside oil and gas, another important commodity transits the Persian Gulf on it's way to global markets: fertilizer. About 1/3 of the global supply of urea, a quarter of global supply of ammonia, and about a fifth of the global supply of phosphate comes from that area.

So, USian farmers will be paying a lot for the diesel to spray really expensive fertilizer on their crops, before they burn more expensive diesel to get their crops to market. It's going to be an expensive year to be a vegetarian.

Given that chemical fertilizers will be expensive and in short supply, does anyone trade futures on stockyard poo? :)

Steve