A Chinese company has once again been registered with an international organization as the owner of a North Korean vessel. This is the third case this year, and the act of owning and operating a North Korean ship is a violation of UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea. Reporter Ham Ji-ha reports.
The North Korean vessel identified as being owned by a Chinese company is the oil tanker Abong 1.
According to the Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a company named ‘Heng Chen Rong Hong Kong’ has been listed as the registered owner of the Abong 1 since May 1 of this year.
Hengchenlong Hong Kong is a Chinese company whose ‘registered nationality’ is indicated as ‘Hong Kong, China’.
In addition, instead of the actual address of the company address in Hong Kong, Kangen Hengcheng, it is written that “Dun Marine Management Co., Ltd., located in Changgyeong 2-dong, Seoseong District, Pyongyang, North Korea” is written.
Although it is not possible to know the exact details from the postings on GISIS alone, it is estimated that the North Korean ship Abong 1, owned by Dun Marine Management, a North Korean company, began to be managed by a Chinese company called Hengchenlong Hong Kong in May.
Earlier, VOA reported that North Korean authorities had recently registered the Abong 1 with GISIS as a new North Korean vessel.
Until then, the registered owner of Abong 1 was ‘Daesung Shipping’, a North Korean company. However, at some point later, Heng Tianlong Hong Kong was reported to GISIS as the new owner, and this seems to have been posted recently.
In the shipping industry, shipping companies in the form of ‘agents’ often manage vessels on behalf of the actual owners.
Accordingly, it is highly likely that the Abong 1 is also an agency that helps ship in and out of China. Heng Tianlong Hong Kong is a micro-company whose only vessel it owns is the Abong 1.
The problem is that this act of helping the operation of North Korean ships is a violation of international sanctions against North Korea.
UN Security Council Resolution 2270 on North Korea, adopted in 2016, prohibits the ownership, leasing, and operation of North Korean ships, as well as the provision of classification or related services.
Earlier, VOA reported that the Chinese company Shandong Zaizhou International was listed as the registered owner of the North Korean shipping vessel Zaizhou 2 from January 2023.
Also in April of this year, it was reported that a Chinese company named ‘Dandong Fuan Economic Trade’ had become the registered owner of the North Korean vessel Nampo 5.
This means that this is the third case in which a Chinese company has become the owner of a North Korean ship.
Previously, acting coordinator of the UN Security Council Panel of Experts, Lee Von Yu, responded to VOA’s report on the recent case of a Chinese company owning a North Korean vessel, saying, “I will not mention a specific vessel, but a number of UN Security Council resolutions prohibit the provision of services to North Korean vessels, including vessel registration.”
Abong 1 with a tonnage of 2,038 tons was built in December 2007. She’s been to China, Mongolia, Sierra Leone, Ship Doe, etc. She’s been flagging North Korea since last year.
Meanwhile, VOA has inquired about Abong-1’s registration as a Chinese company with the Security Council panel of experts and the Chinese government, and is currently waiting for a reply.
This is VOA News Hamjiha.
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2023-07-21 16:30:00
