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Phosphorus predominantly comes from mining phosphate rock sources, of which there are only a relatively small number of sources located in countries like Morocco and Russia.

In a statement, Genco acknowledged the attack and said the vessel was carrying a load of phosphate rock.

Phosphate fertilizer is made from phosphate rock — a non-renewable resource which is rapidly depleting through agricultural use.

Fertilizers are made from phosphate rock that contains naturally occurring uranium and thorium, which decay to radium, and radium decays to the radioactive gas radon, the Environmental Protection Agency says.

And while phosphorus might be a building block for life, phosphate rock used to make synthetic fertilizer is a finite resource that could one day be depleted.