HK ship crew quizzed over oil transfer to N. Korean vessel

SEOUL: The crew of a Hong Kong-registered ship have been detained for questioning in South Korea since their tanker was impounded in November for transferring oil to a North Korean vessel and breaching UN sanctions, customs officials said yesterday.

The Lighthouse Winmore, which was chartered by a Taiwanese company, was impounded by South Korean customs authorities at the port of Yeosu on Nov 24 following an inspection.

“Since then, inspectors have been coming on board and questioning the crew”, a Korea Customs Service official told AFP.

The Lighthouse Winmore has 25 crew members including 23 mainland Chinese citizens and two Myanmar nationals, another customs official at Yeosu said.

The tanker, chartered by Taiwanese company Billions Bunker Group Corp., previously visited Yeosu on Oct 11 and loaded up on some 14,000 tonnes of Japanese refined oil before heading towards its purported destination in Taiwan.

Instead of going to Taiwan, however, the vessel transferred 600 tonnes of oil to the North’s Sam Jong 2 in international waters off China before returning to Yeosu, the customs service officials said.

Earlier a foreign ministry official in Seoul had said the ship had been seized briefly by customs authorities who inspected it.

Results of the investigation will be reported to the UN Security Council’s sanctions committee, foreign ministry officials said. — AFP

Since then, inspectors have been coming on board and questioning the crew. — Korea Customs Service official

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