Britain informed that it has collected evidence of multiple ships from various nationalities breaching United Nations sanctions against North Korea which ban the sale of fuel to the country.
According to defence minister Ben Wallace, the British frigate HMS Richmond identified ships acting in suspected breach of UN sanctions and tracked vessels which had previously not been flagged to the Enforcement Coordination Cell.
While the statement did not detail those thought to be in breach of the sanctions, it said that “multiple ships of various nationalities” had been identified.
According to Reuters, North Korea is under strict international sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. Talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to give up those weapons in return for lifting sanctions have been stalled.
Earlier this month, a U.S.-based research group said in a report that smugglers suspected of evading sanctions on North Korea have turned to schemes to create fraudulent identities for sanctioned ships.
