North Korean cargo ships run aground near Sinuiju, June 2016 | Image: NK News
North Korea may be jerry-rigging cargo vessels to illegally transport refined petroleum, filling ballast tanks with oil instead of water and using concrete to steady ships in rough seas, according to a forthcoming U.N. Panel of Experts report.
An unnamed U.N. member state provided “preliminary information” on the unorthodox and likely dangerous practice to sanctions monitors, a draft of the report seen by NK News shows. The revelation may help explain relatively stable fuel prices in the DPRK despite fewer observed oil deliveries.
North Korea may be jerry-rigging cargo vessels to illegally transport refined petroleum, filling ballast tanks with oil instead of water and using concrete to steady ships in rough seas, according to a forthcoming U.N. Panel of Experts report.
An unnamed U.N. member state provided “preliminary information” on the unorthodox and likely dangerous practice to sanctions monitors, a draft of the report seen by NK News shows. The revelation may help explain relatively stable fuel prices in the DPRK despite fewer observed oil deliveries.
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Ethan Jewell is a Seoul-based correspondent for NK News focused on sanctions, trade and maritime issues. He previously worked as an investigations and intelligence specialist for Pinkerton Comprehensive Risk Management and as a research intern for the Brookings Institution's Center for East Asia Policy Studies.