A fleet of almost 300 ships without international identifiers traveled to the waters just off North Korea’s west-coast city of Haeju for months last year to dredge up tons of ocean sand before returning to China, a new report released Friday revealed.
Sand is a resource prohibited for export from North Korea according to UN sanctions, and the dredging operation, detailed in up-close satellite images and ship activity heat maps by the U.S.-based organization C4ADS, could constitute a major sanctions breach.
A fleet of almost 300 ships without international identifiers traveled to the waters just off North Korea’s west-coast city of Haeju for months last year to dredge up tons of ocean sand before returning to China, a new report released Friday revealed.
Sand is a resource prohibited for export from North Korea according to UN sanctions, and the dredging operation, detailed in up-close satellite images and ship activity heat maps by the U.S.-based organization C4ADS, could constitute a major sanctions breach.
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