US shuts North Carolina port over explosive container fears

[bigworld]

Source: AP

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. — Officials shut down a North Carolina port and urged people to leave the area Tuesday after nine containers with highly explosive materials were punctured.

Morehead City Fire Chief Wes Lail told television station WTVD that the chemical involved is pentaerythritol tetranitrate, a powerful explosive.

Authorities did not immediately say how big the containers were or how they were damaged.

Police told people near the port to stay away from windows and doors. Officers were sent downtown to knock on doors and relay alert and evacuation recommendations.

Morehead City police spokeswoman Amy H. Thompson said people close to the port were leaving, but she did not know how many.

The Morehead port is one of the deepest on the East coast. Its Web site says its top import last year was sulfur products and the top export was phosphate.

Locals said there was no sense of panic. Drew Hall, who answered the phone at Crystal Coast Jamboree, a concert hall near the port, said she could see police lights.

“Everybody is going about their business,” said Hall, 27 who has lived in Morehead City her whole life and does not remember a similar incident. “Why get nervous? Things happen. You can’t freak out in times like this. If you freak out, you’re going to go down.”

Calls to Mayor Jerry Jones were not returned. The coastal town has about 8,800 residents.

Read more: http://blog.taragana.com/business/2010/01/12/nc-port-shut-down-evacuations-urged-after-containers-with-explosive-material-are-punctured-19883/

[ret5hd]

1. Same stuff as the underpants guy, right?

[kirby]

4. Correct, PETN; plastic explosives n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. Things that go 'boom'.

"...its top import last year was sulfur products and the top export was phosphate."

"Hey, you got sulphur in my phosphates!"
"You got phosphates in my sulphur!"

[Cirque du So-What]

7. Explosives are more likely to contain nitro compounds

Phosphorus is used in incendiary weapons (willie peter), and compounds of sulfur are not used in any explosives of which I'm aware.

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. Just because it is not used in explosives doesn't mean it can't go boom.

http://www.sulphuric-acid.com/TechManual/Plant_Safety/safety_sulphur.htm

[Cirque du So-What]

9. I'm well-acquainted with the properties of sulfuric acid

Just saying that nitro compounds pack more explosive force into a smaller package, making them more attractive to bombers.

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. Oh, i completely agree - very inefficient for bombmaking.

But I still wouldn't want to hang around a burning container ship carrying a load of sulphur.

[Thothmes]

15. Sulfur is used in black powder,

Not very powerful in comparison to modern explosives, but a couple of pounds of the stuff will blow up a car without any problems.

[Blandocyte]

3. "If you freak out, you’re going to go down"?

What the hell does that mean?

[kirby]

5. It was a quote from

some burnout working at a Concert Hall. I understood it perfectly. ;)

[Cirque du So-What]

6. The blog entry doesn't make mention of where the substance originated

I don't typically don the tinfoil fedora when reading stories of this type, but I wonder if this is related at all to the underpants bomber. It's not outside the realm of possibility that the stuff he used was obtained from one of these pillaged containers, is it? Wonder if enough was obtained for future bombing attempts.

[Jamastiene]

12. Now, THAT is using your noodle.

That seems quite possible.

[Mopar151]

11. I hope they call sombody from the consigner or manufacturer.

They will likely handle this better than some guy who's flippin' through pages to figure out how scared he is.

[Mnpaul]

13. Hmmm a container of high explosive

I won't be careful with the forklift. LOL

[damntexdem]

14. Well, then, one of the deepest ports on the East Coast has the potential to be even deeper.

And why ship PETN in containers when they could just fly it in underwear?