Italy has dispatched a warship to waters surrounding Japan to help monitor North Korea’s maritime sanctions evasion, in a bid to uphold United Nations sanctions and curb illicit activities.

The Italian Navy’s Antonio Marceglia frigate began surveillance operations in late April, according to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The deployment is part of efforts to monitor illicit ship-to-ship transfers by North Korean-flagged vessels banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions (UNSCR), the ministry said.

“Japan welcomes these activities from the viewpoint of ensuring effective implementation of the relevant UNSCRs,” the foreign ministry stated, adding that the goal is the complete,