Suez Watch

[Lurkalot]

For no other reason than reducing the trade deficit I would encourage less tea consumption.

One weed we seem to grow in profusion is rosebay willow herb. It can be further processed ( look for Ivan tea on youtube for instance) but just simply dried , crushed and steeped in boiling water creates a drink that actually tastes like "proper" tea.
I've also tried making dandelion root coffee which as I don't drink the stuff my wife said it was passable if there was no other alternative but that one is a lot of work for little return.

[BritDownUnder]

I remember my mother talking about rosebay willow herb a lot but couldn't remember what it was used for.

[Lurkalot]

. Most herbal teas are to my taste either bland or just plain awful but the rosebay willow herb makes the most convincing tea plus it's common and easy to process. And if that minimum amount of work is too much it's also available for sale on ebay.

[Default0ptions]

“Another UK Ship On Fire Near Yemen As Sea Becomes Littered With Disabled Tankers”

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ ... ed-tankers

Back in the days of peak ‘Peak Oil’ hyperbole there was some concern about this sort of thing bringing imminent catastrophe - but we seem to be weathering it okay so far.

Were we too worried about it having an immediate impact on oil supplies back then - or is it just the case that the whole oil trade takes a lot longer to collapse catastrophically than we envisaged?

[clv101]

It's hardly started yet - shipping containers from Far East, China, Indonesia, Japan etc going around South Africa take an extra 10-14 days. A minor delay and a small increase in cost associated in fuel and wages... however, the much bigger problem is that the effective total capacity from say Shanghai to Rotterdam is reduced by some 40%. That's a huge impact in the total tonnage. It will be significantly reduced, there will be shortages and inflation will go up, at least for East Asian imports.

I have not seen this talked about much, the media just seem to focus on a few day delay - but that's not the problem.


Also, mortgage rates on the rise again: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68374500
Inflation is not under control, economic situation will worsen before the next election IMO.

[adam2]

Agree, that the costs of the extra mileage and time are relatively small.
The real problem is that ships can now make fewer return voyages per year, via the African coast, rather than via the Suez canal.
This reduces the total shipping capacity measured in either ships per year, or containers per month.

The longer route is also vulnerable to extreme weather and has its own pirates.

[BritDownUnder]

Looks like a ship version of one of those "Low-rider" cars. Quite funny really. Going from Thailand to Egypt so not affecting the UK very much. Maybe it was carrying rice and the Egyptians will have to tighten their belts a bit.



At the risk of sounding like a scratched record, the solution to reduced shipping capacity is to buy less Chinese cr@p.

[adam2]

Iran backed houthis have sunk another ship, with the loss of two lives according to early reports.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68490695
Edited to add that later reports state three dead.