Ship seized for oil transfer to N. Korean vessel
South Korea charges that Hong Kong tanker violated United Nations sanctions
SEOUL— South Korea has seized a Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker accused of transferring 600 tons of refined oil to a North Korean ship in October in violation of United Nations sanctions, South Korean officials said Friday.
Officials revealed that they had impounded the 11,253-ton Hong Kong tanker, the Lighthouse Winmore, and questioned its crew. The revelation came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump accused China of letting fuel oil flow into North Korea through illicit ship-to-ship transfers on international waters.
But there was no immediate evidence of Chinese involvement in the Lighthouse Winmore’s dealings with the North Koreans. The ship was being leased by the Taiwanese company Billions Bunker Group Corp., South Korean Foreign Ministry officials told reporters Friday.
The Lighthouse Winmore docked at the South Korean port of Yeosu on Oct. 11 to load 14,039 tons of refined petroleum from Japan, they said. Four days later, it departed Yeosu, saying it was headed for Taiwan. Instead, it transferred the refined oil to four other ships on international waters, including 600 tons transferred to the North Korean ship Sam Jong 2 on Oct. 19, officials said.
A similar ship-to-ship transfer involving another North Korean ship, Rye Song Gang 1, was captured in satellite photos released by the U.S. Treasury Department on Nov. 21, although the department did not release the name of the other ship involved in the high-seas transaction.
South Korean authorities boarded the Lighthouse Winmore and questioned its crew members when they returned to Yeosu on Nov. 24. The ship was formally impounded by South Korea after the UN Security Council passed a resolution Dec. 22 requiring member countries to inspect and impound any vessel in their ports that was believed to have been used for prohibited activities with North Korea.
The ship remains in South Korean custody, officials said Friday. Its 25 crewmen, including 23 Chinese citizens and two from Burma, will be allowed to leave after the investigation is over.
The Security Council on Thursday denied international port access to the Sam Jong 2 and three other North Korean ships suspected of carrying or having transported banned goods, Agence France- Presse reported, citing UN diplomats.
When it blacklisted several Chinese trading companies and North Korean shipping companies and their vessels in November, the U.S. Treasury Department said that North Korea was “known to employ deceptive shipping practices, including ship-to-ship transfers,” a practice banned under a UN sanctions resolution adopted Sept. 11.
Trump’s criticism of China came after the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, quoting anonymous sources, reported that U.S. spy satellites have spotted 30 ship-to-ship transfers of oil and other products since October in international waters between North Korea and China. The report said the “smuggling” took place between North Korean vessels believed to be from China.
In its latest sanctions, adopted Dec. 22, the Security Council expressed concern that North Korea was “illicitly exporting coal and other prohibited items through deceptive maritime practices and obtaining petroleum illegally through ship-toship transfers.”
The South Korean Foreign Ministry refused to confirm the Chosun report, saying that the matter was being discussed at the Security Council’s sanctions committee.
But Chinese officials disputed the news media reports.