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| Africa Horn |
| Ship set ablaze at Kismayo port |
| 2007-02-25 |
| (SomaliNet) A vessel from India to Emirates is reportedly to have caught fire at the Somalia southern port city of Kismayo on Saturday. No human casualty was reported. It is not known what sparked the fire on the ship but some reports say that a burning charcoal was onboard. The vessel was carrying charcoal to the UAE. The authorities at the Kismayo seaport said the charcoal that burnt on the ship was worthy of $150,000. After hours, the workers at the seaport succeeded to put out the fire on the vessel, which endangered others boats and ships at the dock. The news came as the transitional federal government recently issued a decree banning the export of charcoal as illegal. The businessmen who trade in the charcoal in southern Somalia expressed their deep concern over the new law. They asked for the Somalia government to put off the banning until they receive back the money they spent on firewood. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 The charcoal used for barbecues in the US- neat little oval briquettes in bags- is made from the sawdust byproduct of the timber industry. In poor countries it is made by felling trees and burning the logs. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2007-02-25 18:20 |
| #3 Charcoal, not used for home heating. : Oldest known explosive, a mixture of 75% potassium nitrate (saltpetre), 15% charcoal, and 10% sulphur. Sulphur ignites at a low temperature, charcoal burns readily, and the potassium nitrate provides oxygen for the explosion. As gunpowder produces lots of smoke and burns quite slowly, it has progressively been replaced since the late 19th century by high explosives, although it is still widely used for quarry blasting, fuses, and fireworks. Gunpowder has high activation energy; a gun based on gunpowder alone requires igniting by a flint or a match. Some Web Site, look it up. Least it reduced some gun sex somewhere. |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2007-02-25 17:13 |
| #2 *groan* Charcoal? We Yanks use that for the barbeque, devilstoenail. We'd be short a few hamburgers and grilled sausages this summer, perhaps. Or Burger King will have to stretch things with a few drops of Liquid Smoke. But since this ship was headed for the United Arab Emirates... no doubt some expensive chefs are about to start screaming as they adjust their menus. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-02-25 17:06 |
| #1 lol, who would have thought that burning burnt wood would (scuse the pun, lol) make such a difference to the economy. Who knows, maybe 10-20 houses in the US will go without a nice warm cosy fire |
| Posted by: devilstoenail 2007-02-25 16:09 |