A cargo vessel appeared to become stranded off North Korea’s eastern coast last month, satellite imagery shows, in what one expert described as a possible operation to scrap the boat for parts.

The ship measuring roughly 100 meters in length appeared outside the Chongjin port between Oct. 16 and 19, Planet Labs satellite imagery shows, with the vessel remaining grounded by the shore as of Tuesday.

The Seoul-based SI-Analytics firm was first to report on the ship’s appearance by Chongjin’s old steel mill, suggesting that several smaller boats carried out an unsuccessful salvage operation after the ship became stuck.

At