South Korea detained a domestic vessel for allegedly supplying petroleum products to North Korea, thus violating the sanctions. The tanker was detained at the port of Busan, for transfers that reportedly took place in September 2017.
The bunkering tanker is under detention since October 2018 at the Port of Busan. The ship is charged for participating in two ship-to-ship transfers of diesel with two North Korean vessels.
Information reports that these transfers took place in September 2017, in East China Sea.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
Prosecutors are now examining the case, in order to determine whether or not to press charges against the vessel’s operator and master. The allegations have also been communicated with South Korea’s allies.
In addition to this detention, negotiations regarding three foreign ships held in South Korea for breaching sanctions are underway. The UN sanctions on North Korea enables port states to release suspect vessels after six months, provided that the administering UN committee considers that the suspects can be prevented from repeating the violations.
Moreover, Japan, the US and the UK have also been enforcing North Korean sanctions. In fact, the UK Navy warship HMS Montrose recently came back from the Korean peninsula, where it documented possible illegal actions of six vessels.
