Selco: The Dirty Truth About Water and Sanitation When the SHTF

This article was originally published by Selco at The Organic Prepper

Note from Daisy Luther: The biggest concerns in any long-term emergency are water and sanitation because the lack of these things can cause serious illness or even death. Because water and sanitation aren’t nearly as glamorous as guns and gadgets, they’re often overlooked in a preparedness plan. I asked Selco some questions about these important issues in this interview. The truth about it is dirty, unpleasant, and something for which you absolutely must plan.

Once there was no more running water, how did you get drinking water?

Just like most other things (especially when it comes to non-preppers) it was a matter of levels and layers.

The tap water was going on and off for a few days before service went completely off, so people had a few bottles of drinking water stored. But of course, most of us thought everything going to be restored very soon so nobody had thought about storing big amounts of water.

When it comes to lack of water and being unprepared, the levels and layers that I am mentioning meant that you first looked and asked for tap water (clean) for drinking. Then collecting water from rooftops sounded like a good idea. Then drinking directly from the river was good if there was no other source. And then, finally, when there was no other source. you simply drink dirty water even when you were sure it is quite dirty.

It was a matter of low resources, desperation, and of course low skill levels.

Our main sources were rain and the river.

Can you tell us about your rainwater collection system?

It was not anything smart, especially in the beginning.

The gutter system normally took water from the roof through pipes into the underground collectors and sewers. When we concluded that the running water was not coming back, we simply sawed off a piece of gutter and pushed it inside the main gutter that led from the roof system (on the side of the house that looked inside the yard). Then we collected water inside a barrel.

We just used the water collectment system that was existing there already, and just cut it off at a lower point, before the water was “lost” and redirected the water into a barrel.

It is actually pretty amazing how much water you can collect from the roof during one summer storm. A lot.

When it comes to that system of water collecting our main problem was lack of containers, because even if there is a huge amount of water to “catch” from the rain, we did not have enough adequate containers for that.

Probably if we were prepared in a smart way for that, our water problems would have been easier.

How did you purify/filter water for drinking and cooking?

Two main ways: boiling and filtering.

Filtering of the water was very rudimentary. We did not use any real filters, and people did not know how to make anything too complicated.

The most complicated filter that I saw in those times was a slightly changed version of a “bottle ” filter with rocks and sand with added cloth inside.

We used cloths for filtering, or gauze. If water was visibly contaminated (particles) we would repeat the procedure until the water looked satisfying for us.

Boiling was a widespread method of making water drinkable, and often the quality of stoves and fuel for it were “measured” by the time needed for water to boil.

Were the rivers and streams contaminated? If so, how quickly after things went bad?

River and streams in cities were polluted (if we talk about drinking) before the war because poor care was taken of it, and it was mainly because of industry.

When SHTF that kind of pollution went down because of obvious reasons (everything stopped working) but other kinds of pollutants were there. City services did not work and many people lived next to that river (upstream too). So it was polluted with everything, including bodies from time to time.

We drink it, sometimes even without boiling and filtering. I survived it, but I was sick many times, probably because of that.

How did you keep yourself clean?

By the standards from before SHTF and standards today we were not clean most of the time, because most of the time we did not have enough water for that.

By the standard of that time (SHTF) we managed to use very small amounts of water to keep ourselves as clean as possible.

Most of the time it was something like sponge bathing with a bottle of water.

It was a joke at that time. Often people would say, “I just had shower using wet napkin only(from MRE)”

Years later I saw a similar scene in a movie, and it brought memories back.

And actually it is a great thing to have a huge stash of those ready for SHTF.

When it was safe, we used the river for that, or people sometimes simply get naked in their yard during the rain.

What did you do for a toilet?

Very close to our house, through the destroyed building, there was small piece of land, which was “hidden” from all sides. We used that as a simple “dig a hole” latrine. Later we built something like primitive field latrine.

It was a simple hole in the ground covered with wooden boards, with channels leading away.

It worked more or less, but we had the good luck of having that place with enough “ground” close to home where it was pretty safe for spending that time there.

Folks use toilet everywhere that was available. Inside toilets were mostly out of use mainly because of the lack of water.

Of course. it contrubituted greatly to the city being a very dirty place.

Did you see an increase in sanitation-related illnesses like typhus, cholera? How did you treat those illnesses?

Everybody was at least once really sick from diseases that probably were caused by lack of hygiene, bad water and bad food.

Diarrhea, vomiting, exhaustion…

A lot of people had a couple of times heavy episodes of that, because simply, the whole chain of hygiene was really bad and broken.

Either you had problems with waste disposal, or bad water, or bad food, or simply you lacked personal hygiene.

It was a constant problem.

Sanitation problems were solved in a way that people would just throw away garbage from their own houses, as far as possible, or burn it when it was possible.

Because the system was out (of taking out garbage from that point) the result was that city was suffocating in garbage.

Diseases were inevitable.

Just like any other diseases they treated depending on knowledge and resources. In essence, people would try to cover it with medicines if possible and available, and with natural remedies.

Also, the sick person would be separated from other folks if possible.

Often method (and pretty stupid in that time because other bad factors) was to just leave a sick man to clean on itself, without food or anything, just a really small amount of water.

Do you have suggestions for some ways we can prepare for water and sanitation needs?

People usually do not understand how much consideration they need to take into solving the problem of a working toilet.

It is partly because it is maybe not a cool topic to discuss, but also it is something that we have taken for granted for many years.

Forget about jokes like, “If the SHTF forget about the toilet, it will be all over the place.”

If you are living together with 4 members of your family and one day the SHTF and your toilet is not working anymore it is quite a big topic to think about because you suddenly realize how often you need to go to the toilet and problems that it can bring. (However that may sound funny now).

With improper toilet techniques you are at a high risk for diseases, and when the SHTF, any kind of disease or illness will cripple you because you might need to perform heavy tasks.

Not to mention that “a small cut can kill you” because most probably, you are going to be your own physician, pharmacist, nurse etc.

There is lots of advice about how to deal with human waste: portable camping toilets, digging a latrine, even using it as a fertilizer or using it as a fuel (drying it) etc.

Some of this advice is clearly from people who do not have a clue about urban SHTF. Others are cool, but they are like more advanced solution (still the basic problem exists), and some of them work only in a wilderness situation.

I like to start with a very basic solution that solves my number one problem: what to do if my toilet does not work in my house or my apartment in an urban area.

A very cool and simple solution (and no, I did not “invent” it, it was there for quite some time) is having plastic buckets (the size that a toilet lid can be installed on it) and many plastic (heavy duty) bags that can be “installed” inside that bucket.

You still need to get rid of those bags later, but it is doable.

That is your immediate urban survival latrine. You can add some ash inside to make it more usable.

Often people if you ask them “how will you use the toilet when SHTF.” they  talk about composting human waste, but your real problem is what do you do if SHTF and your toilet is not working, and you can not go out in woods (remember, you are in the city) or anywhere  because it is not safe.

People often mention the fact that your toilet might work even when SHTF, you are just gonna need water to flush it.

That is actually a problem and the reason why you need to look for alternate ways. Water is going to be a big problem, and it is gonna be hard to get for other even more important things not to mention toilet. (unless you are living right next to a river or similar).

Just try to figure out today how much water you “spend” daily for flushing the toilet and you’ll get the point.

And do not forget that there is a chance that your toilets might be flooded, depending of what kind of collapse it is and area where you live.

So the “bucket toilet” technique is a start. Everything else is an upgrade if you have the means, space, and solutions.

If you have close space to your home where it is possible to dig a hole and make outhouse it is a good solution. Again, it will work for some time.

We are talking now about urban survival, and no matter how wrong or funny it looks to you, the point is to get it done in the fastest and cleanest and simplest possible way, and in a way that is the easiest possible to get rid of that waste.

By that you are minimizing the risk of many diseases.

Go with simplest solutions first and then upgrade on that.

All of you can figure pretty easily how much water you spend every day for all of your needs.

Then use that number when you plan how much of water you need to acquire per day when SHTF (through rain, river, wells, your already “stashed” tanks of water etc.) and you’ll see that there is probably scary difference between liters (or gallons) that you are using today and what you are going to be able to get when SHTF.

That means few things.

First and actually most important that you need to understand differences between necessity and comfort, in a way that for example having hot tub is great thing, but you won’t die if you do not have it, while not drinking enough water will get you killed.

So using water when the SHTF gets a new dimension if you think in that way. Maybe you are not gonna be able to be clean all the time, but you’ll survive.

Another thing is that you need to have a stash of water. Often people forget it and concentrate on food only (not to mention weapons only).

It is really cheap and easy to store some amount of water in canisters or barrels and keep it fresh by “refreshing it”  on schedule.

There are calculations of how much time a man can live without water, but usually, there are no calculations of how much time a man can “operate” in hard conditions. You need to be able to run, hide, fight, be scared, be under stress, work hard. So, you need to have a stash of water immediatelly ready when SHTF.

Collecting water from your roof collection system and purifying it sounds cool maybe, but try being thirsty for a week looking at the sky while you are waiting for rain.

I use 50-liter barrels and 20-liter canisters for water stash, on the balcony and in the basement. And I have small bottles of water everywhere. Nothing smart or spectacular but it will do the job, at least until rain falls.

Pay attention to water containers, not only that they need to be usable for water, but also that you need to have them in big numbers and not only big barrels.

Big stuff is hard to move, and once you fill it (for example from the roof system) you may find out it is not possible to move it.

Also having too much “manipulation” with big containers means more chance that you are gonna pollute the water, so think about that too. For example, find a way how you are gonna fill your bottles from big containers and similar.

One more thing that comes to mind when it come to water collecting is tarps.

Tarps (nylon) are something that you absolutely need to have in order to help yourself during water collecting (collection and also for directing what you have collected).

Tarps have many uses in survival so you should have decent amount of them anyway.

It all comes to the levels and degree of SHTF that you might experience, but know that in some periods you’ll be forced to use a very low amount of water for hygiene.

A good method is using a sprinkler watering can and sponge for a bath.

Also, have other methods as a means of water-saving for hygiene for when times get really hard with water (like wet wipes, and hand sanitizers).

Ways to disinfect water to make it usable for drinking are numerous and all around the web. Sometimes the discussion about best method is so fierce that remind me of “best caliber for SHTF” discussion.

It is important to understand that some of the methods kill germs but do not make water completely safe for drinking.

I personally prefer a few ways for making water safe (or safer) to drink: bleach, iodine tincture, boiling ,homemade filters (sand, stone, charcoal…).

I did try few portable purifiers like steripen and hand pump filters during the physical survival courses) and they worked (I did not get sick). It would be interesting to test it in a long term situation, and yes, it is good to have them.

In the end, your plan all comes to the availability of water. For example, if you live close to a creek or river it changes your perspective completely in the long run.

About the Author

Selco survived the Balkan war of the 90s in a city under siege, without electricity, running water, or food distribution. In his online works, he gives an inside view of the reality of survival under the harshest conditions. He reviews what works and what doesn’t, tells you the hard lessons he learned, and shares how he prepares today. He never stopped learning about survival and preparedness since the war. Regardless what happens, chances are you will never experience extreme situations like Selco did. But you have the chance to learn from him and how he faced death for months. Real survival is not romantic or idealistic. It is brutal, hard and unfair. Let Selco take you into that world. Read more of Selco’s articles here: https://shtfschool.com/blog/ And take advantage of a deep and profound insight into his knowledge and advice by signing up for the outstanding and unrivaled online course. More details here: https://shtfschool.com/survival-boot-camp/

"Loyal" Venezuelan Soldiers Get Their Government-Sponsored 'Rewards'...

I live in South America.  South Americans, in general and including Venezuelans, are not "socialists" any more than Europeans are.  The problem here is that so many politicians on the national level are in the pockets of U.S., European, and now Chinese and Saudi financiers.  The people here have been burned by treasonous politicians so often, and the average voter distrust anyone who appears even moderately pro-U.S., or even pro-European or (recently) pro-Chinese.    Unfortunately, in most South American countries, the socialist parties are the only alternatives.

In Venezuela, you have a situation in which U.S. meddling in that nation"s politics resulted in a socialist counter coup, which has entrenched itself in power.  It was constant U.S. meddling that created this situation, and I assure you that outside of the ruling circle, no one in Venezuela is happy about it.  The U.S. media seems very indignant about supposed "Russian" meddling in the U.S. election in 2016.  Well.. I have news for everyone in the U.S., the U.S. meddles in every election, every year, all the time in South America, and the people here are pissed off about it.

"Shrinkflation" - How Food Companies Implement Massive Price Hikes Without You Ever Noticing

Do you ever get the sense that your favorite steak at that Quick Service Restaurant of your choice keeps getting thinner and thinner all while your check size at the end of the night continues getting larger and larger.  Well, it is.  How else are publicly traded chains going to continue to deliver margin growth to wall street in the midst of rising labor costs, rising commodity costs and shrinking customer traffic?

As a new study in the U.K. just revealed, shrinking portion sizes among food manufacturers is actually way more common than you might think and you probably never even noticed it.  In fact, according to data from the Office for National Statistics, over 2,500 consumer products in the U.K. shrunk in size over the past five years despite being sold for the same price.

But it"s not just food manufacturers that are shrinking portions while maintaining price as many consumers goods items from chocolate to coffee to toilet paper are all experiencing the same trends.  Known in grocery circles as "liar packs", shrinking portion sizes became an attractive alternative to simply raising prices back during the great recession when consumers became particularly sensitive to price.  Of course, the net effect is exactly the same but it"s much more difficult to notice that fine print on the bottom corner of the packaging than it is the price tag at check out.  Per The Telegraph:

Mark Jones, a food and drink solicitor at Gordons law firm, said: “Shrinkflation was borne out of the recession and has gathered staggering pace since 2009. The ONS’s report confirms this. Against the back drop of a weak economy, commodity prices have been rising over the last five years.

"The recession made people very price sensitive and you can see the evidence of that by looking at the impressive growth of discount retailers in the last five years, no retail sector has grown faster.

“Suppliers and retailers do not want to raise the ‘on the shelf’ price, but both have had to adapt to increasing commodity prices.

"Shrinking the size of the products being sold, whether that is toilet paper, chocolate or cleaning products, is just another way of pushing through a price increase, but in a more subtle way. How many of us noticed Andrex reduce the number of sheets on a toilet roll from 240 to 221?”

And here is the breakdown by month over the past 5 years:

But it"s not just British consumers getting duped by "shrinkflation" as all the same games are played in the U.S. markets as well.  For example, who is actually going to notice that 10 sheets of paper are missing from the Bounty rolls on the right versus those on the left?  Yet, assuming that both packages are sold at the same price this small reduction in size equates to a substantial 9% price hike on a per sheet basis.

Meanwhile, these containers are completely identical aside from some tiny print in the bottom right hand corner.

Conclusion: Caveat emptor...there is a whole army of Harvard MBAs working in consumer goods companies all around the world whose sole mission in life is to get you to pay more for less without ever noticing.

China Foils "Toilet Revolution" Bandits With Facial Recognition In Public Restrooms

As part of China’s efforts to spur tourism with a “toilet revolution,” Consumerist"s Mary Beth Quirk reports that bathrooms at tourist sites will now use facial recognition to keep them from grabbing too much toilet paper. Yes, this means your face could be scanned in the john.

The toilet paper thieves of the Temple of Heaven Park were an elusive bunch, writes The New York Times Javier Hernandez; they looked like most park visitors, practicing tai chi, dancing in the courtyards and stopping to take in the scent of ancient cypress and juniper trees. But hidden in their oversize shopping bags and backpacks was a secret: sheet upon sheet of crumpled toilet paper, plucked surreptitiously from public restrooms.

Now the authorities in Beijing are fighting back, going so far as to install high-tech toilet paper dispensers equipped with facial recognition software in several restrooms.

Before entering restrooms in the park, visitors must now stare into a computer mounted on the wall for three seconds before a machine dispenses a sheet of toilet paper, precisely two feet in length.

If visitors require more, they are out of luck. The machine will not dispense a second roll to the same person for nine minutes.

“The people who steal toilet paper are greedy,” said He Zhiqiang, 19, a customer service worker from the northwestern region of Ningxia.

“Toilet paper is a public resource. We need to prevent waste.”

Qin Gang, 63, taking a stroll through the park with his wife, said China’s history of crippling poverty had left some people eager to exploit public goods.

“It’s a very bad habit,” Mr. Qin said.

“Maybe we can use technology to change how people think.”

One wonders which department of Chinese natural resource protection was responsible for deciding that 24 inches of single-ply TP was "enough".. or for that matter, why a 9 minute break between wipes? Still, these are the wonders of "new" communism

Grid Down Hospital – Part 1 & Part 2

Grid Down Hospital Introduction

FlightERDoc

Posted on October 6, 2016

Welcome to the first of what I hope will be many (or at least a few) articles on running a Grid Down Hospital.

For the purposes of these articles, I will use the term Grid Down Hospital to refer to any medical care facility put into service when normal facilities and services, for whatever reason, are not available. Hopefully, such care facilities will be established and staffed by medical professionals, but one can never be certain.

Some of this information will not be useful for you. Some will. Take what you can use, and leave the rest. If you have any specific questions, or concerns, please let me know and I’ll do my best to answer your concerns.

Be forewarned: I am not a traditional kind of physician. I have my own opinions about what works and how things should be done. I also don’t tolerate any ‘woo’ – that is ‘alternative medicine’ that has no basis in science. I may say things you don’t like. You may say things I don’t like. That’s called a discussion.

Right now, I have some articles that I wrote for another website, that hasn’t been updated in more than a year. These include Hygiene and Sanitation, the Grid Down Hospital Library, Medical School (medical education), Grid Down Hospital Central Supply, Grid Down Hospital Pharmacy, Basic tools for the Grid Down Hospital Staff, and the Grid Down Hospital Lab. I have already planned a couple of articles on equipment and techniques for the pre Grid Down Hospital care provider.

Grid Down Hospital – Part II: Hygiene & Sanitation

FlightERDoc

Posted on October 7, 2016

Trauma is cool…

Patching bullet holes can be exciting.

But this will be a very small part of what you need to prepare for. Grid down, more lives will be saved by the application of basic sanitation steps than all the CLS bags in the world. Being able to find clean water, disinfect or sterilize it, treat sewage and infectious waste (or at least keep it away from anything that will spread it) is far more important in the long term.

In fact, garbage collection and clean water supplies have done more to keep society healthy than all the doctors and hospitals in the world, and for far less cost. Disease, rather than trauma is what kills most people, grid up or down. If you can minimize disease you will have done more to save lives than treating a bullet wound or broken bone.

Clean Water

How to sterilize water? Simple:

You don’t need to ‘sterilize’ water.  Sterilization is the destruction of all microorganisms in, on and around an object.  What is needed, assuming the water has no other chemical pollutants in it, is disinfection (killing of pathogenic (disease causing) organisms). If the water is polluted with chemicals, you have a very serious problem on your hands.

Disinfection can be done many ways, including filtration, heat, ozonation, and chemical disinfection.  

Despite many stories to the contrary, simply boiling water will disinfect it.  At any elevation you’re likely be at the boiling point of water is high enough to kill (or denature) anything in the water.  You don’t need to boil it for any particular length of time, just get it boiling at a good rolling boil.

Filtration is a good method, you should use a filter that has an absolute rating of 0.2 micron diameter or LESS (0.1 micron).  Personally, I use iodine crystals (Polar Pure™) first, then filter the water.

Chemical disinfection is the use of various chemicals (usually a halide like chlorine or iodine) in the water.  It’s usually a quick, economical and effective method.

Here is a summary of water disinfection chemical usage based on the Wilderness Medical Society Practice Guidelines 2nd Edition, edited by William Forgey MD (page 63):

For chemical disinfection, the key is the concentration of halogens (halogens are a group of elements like Chlorine, Bromine or Iodine), in parts per million (halogen to water):

How to get the desired concentration of halogens, for various products:

Iodine tablets, also known as: tetraglycine hydroperiodide; EDWGT (emergency drinking water germicidal tablets); USGI water purification tablets; Potable Aqua (trade name); Globaline (trade name):

4 ppm – ½ tablet per liter of water 8 ppm – 1 tablet per liter of water.

NOTE: These tablets should be gunmetal gray in color when used – if rust colored, they are useless:

The free iodine has combined with atmospheric moisture. The bottles should be kept well sealed and replaced often. Checking the tablets in the bottle just exposes them to moisture in the air.

For 2% iodine (tincture of Iodine) (gtts=drops)

4 ppm – 0.2 ml (5 gtts) 8 ppm – 0.4 ml (10 gtts)

NOTE: Tincture of Iodine should NOT be used as a wound treatment, so this is not a good option for a ‘dual use’ item.

10% povidone-iodine solution (Betadine™)

NOTE: Solution only, NOT SCRUB – Scrub has soap in it

4 ppm – 0.35 ml (8 gtts) 8 ppm – 0.7ml (16 gtts)

Saturated (in water) Iodine crystals (Polar Pure™)

4 ppm – 13 ml 8 ppm – 26 ml

Iodine crystals in alcohol

0.1 ml / 5 ppm 0.2 ml / 10 ppm

Halazone tablets (Monodichloroaminobenzoic acid)

4 ppm – 2 tabs 8 ppm – 4 tabs

NOTE: The old Vietnam era chlorine tabs are decades out of date. Chlorine tabs decay even more rapidly than iodine tabs. Not recommended.

Household bleach (Clorox™)

4 ppm – 0.1 ml (2 gtts) 8 ppm – 0.2 ml (4 gtts)

Note: Bleach offers a relatively economical method of treating large (gallons) of water at a time. 4 liters is approximately 1 gallon.

For very cold water contact time should be increased.

If drinking this water after disinfection, flavoring agents (drink mixes, etc) can be added: This must be done AFTER the period allocated for disinfection (the disinfecting agent will bind to the organic material and not work).

Bleach offers the easiest and most economical method of disinfecting water, especially in large quantities. Unfortunately, liquid bleach does not store well, and will lose potency over a relatively short time (months to year).

It is possible to make ‘bleach’ from products that are more stable…in particular calcium hypochlorite, also known as ‘pool shock’ or ‘HTH’ (which stands for “high test hypochlorite”). You can buy 1 lb plastic bags for a couple of dollars, and make thousands of gallons of water from it.

Unfortunately, the plastic bags it normally is sold in are not well suited for long term storage. I keep mine in 2 liter Nalgene™ lab flasks similar to these:

http://www.amazon.com/Nalgene-HDPE-Mouth-Round-Container/dp/B001OPMG52/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1434985816&sr=1-1 (retrieved 22 June 2015)

which I then keep in 5 gallon sealed buckets. I then keep this bucket well away from anything that may react to it, including metal, brake fluid or water.

Directions for calculating how much HTH to use can be found here:

https://www.scribd.com/doc/266122449/2006-09-14-Faq-Fs-Emergency-disinfection-drinkingwater-2006 (retrieved 1 October 2016) or here:

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/emergencies/fs2_19.pdf (retrieved 22 June 2015)

General guidelines on water and handwashing:

Boiling Water

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/Boiling_water_01_15.pdf
(Accessed 16 May 2015)

Guidelines for Drinking Water

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/2011/dwq_guidelines/en/

(Accessed 16 May 2015)

Handwashing

http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/tools/9789241597906/en/

(Accessed 16 May 2015)

Sterilization of Medical Supplies

Face it, disposables won’t be, but they have to be sterile. Here is some guidance on how to sterilize medical instruments in an austere environment

http://www.moljinar.com/page6/files/Sterilization%20v1-2.pdf Accessed 23 June 2015

Sanitation

Everyone goes, and we need to deal with it. If you’re out of cities, there is a good chance your home is on a septic system, which is great! When was the last time you had it pumped out (not everything is processed in it) and inspected to make sure the leach field is in good shape? It’s easier to fix it now than later.

If you need to dig a hole and build an outhouse, here is a compendium of information:

http://inspectapedia.com/septic/Outhouse_Latrine_Construction.php Accessed 23 June 2015

http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/MCRP%204-11.1D%20Field%20Hygiene%20and%20Sanitation.pdf

Accessed 23 June 2015

http://www.weblife.org/humanure/pdf/humanure_handbook_third_edition.pdf (retrieved 22 June 2015)

Medical waste

Medical waste needs to be handled differently than regular garbage, since it is oftentimes more infectious and is always ‘ickier’.

Method for incineration of medical waste: https://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/publications/icrc-002-4032.pdf retrieved 22 June 2015

Burial

Unfortunately, it will be necessary to deal with the dead. Here are some guidelines:

https://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/icrc-002-0880.pdf Accessed 23 June 2015

Western Rifle Shooters

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The Clownery of the Shippers Continues, as $DRYS and Others Get Annihilated

There was never a reason for these bastards to run higher in the first place, given that there are hordes of zombie dry bulkers littering the seas keeping day rates at artificially depressed levels. The only way this issue gets corrected, frankly, is for excess supply to be scrapped. Until then, enjoy your depressed day rates and floating bankruptcy vessels.

The sector looked good in the pre-market, but have since given it all up and more.

Day rates for capesizes are at a fraction of what they were back in 2007 and half of what they were in 2014.

At the forefront of this fuckery is DRYS, a company that saw its stock rise this morning after news that it agreed to terms with one of its lenders.

Like I said, clownery.

Content originally published at iBankCoin