The Japanese Government on Wednesday published images of a North Korean vessel likely involved in prohibited ship-to-ship (STS) transfers in the East China Sea on June 29.

It is the second occasion that Japan has issued reports of such activities occurring in June, with previous images being published on June 27 of a DPRK vessel likely conducting illicit STS transfers on June 21 and 22.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel – the JS Sendai – spotted the “AN SAN 1 (IMO number: 7303803), North Korean-flagged tanker… lying alongside a vessel of