A cargo ship that recently made a rare voyage directly from Busan to Nampho was purchased by a newly registered company and reflagged in the months before, an investigation by NK Pro and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) found, evidence that one expert said points to the vessel’s transfer or sale to North Korea in violation of international sanctions.

Maritime specialists told NK Pro that the case raises concerns about the DPRK’s ability to leverage well-known procurement networks to illegally acquire vessels — even those that first pass through South Korean ports.

A NIUE FLAG

In mid-June, NK Pro reported that the An Hai 6 (IMO 8355786) sailed from the South Korean port city of Busan to North Korea’s Nampho, a voyage that appeared to violate U.N. and South Korean sanctions on shipments between the two Koreas.

Before that voyage, the An Hai 6 was known as the Bi Xiang 66 and mostly sailed between Chinese ports, according to ship-tracking records. Photographs obtained by RUSI show that it likely underwent modifications at a shipyard in Taizhou in Jan. 2022, after which it began broadcasting as the An Hai 6 under the flag from the small island nation of Niue.

The An Hai 6’s owners reflagged the ship through Niue Ship Registry Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based company with rights to provide flagging services on behalf of the tiny island state of Niue, documents seen by NK Pro and RUSI indicate. When contacted by NK Pro, Niue Ship Registry confirmed it had flagged the vessel under the condition that it “carried no cargo” and registered its voyage as ending in Yokohama, at which point it would be delisted from Niue’s ship registry.

The choice to sail under Niue’s colors likely stems from the small Pacific island country’s lack of restrictions on owner and crew nationality, a fact that Niue Ship Registry states promotes on its website. 

Katsu Furukawa, a former maritime expert for the U.N. Panel of Experts, told NK Pro that Niue was one of several flags of convenience that the DPRK has used in the past, and that Niue Ship Registry in particular was “deeply integrated” into the North’s efforts to disguise its vessels as foreign flagged.

A NEW OWNER

The An Hai 6’s registered owner, Pearl Marine Shipping Co Ltd, is registered to an address in the Marshall Islands and assumed ownership of the vessel on April 18, 2022, International Maritime Organization (IMO) records show. An incorporation document from the Marshall Islands’ corporate registry system shows Pearl Marine Shipping was registered on April 6, 2022 — less than two weeks before it assumed control of the An Hai 6.

Niue Ship Registry told NK Pro that it had “no comprehensive information relating to the beneficial owners” of Pearl Marine Shipping. However, the company said it had already been informed by the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) that An Hai 6 “was found outside Nampho Lockgate, DPRK since mid-June 2022,” adding that it had provided all documents available to the UNSC for their investigation.

“The Niue Ship Registry strongly condemns behaviors of illicit shipping and sanctions evasion practices, and has provided the UNSC its assurance of assistance and cooperation in any way possible to uphold U.N. sanctions against DPRK,” the company said. 

The An Hai 6’s owner is also registered to a trust fund complex in the Marshall Islands that’s also home to Do Young Shipping and Kingly Won International, both of which have caught the eyes of U.N. sanctions monitors in the past: Do Young Shipping helped facilitate the export of illicit North Korean coal, while Kingly Won International attempted to broker an oil deal for Pyongyang. 

The collective evidence — the An Hai 6’s path through the Niue Ship Registry, its ownership by a brand new Marshall Islands-based company and its subsequent voyage to Nampho — suggests Pyongyang has used its overseas connections to evade sanctions and acquire a new vessel, according to one maritime expert.

“North Korea has a number of active vessel procurement networks looking to replace casualties to the merchant fleet which are often acquired through brokers in China,” said James Byrne, director of open-source intelligence and analysis at RUSI. “In past cases, vessels that have arrived to Nampho in similar circumstances have later been reflagged to the DPRK, although sometimes they operate without even registering a flag with the IMO,” he explained.

“In this instance, given the An Hai 6’s arrival in North Korea with a flag for only one journey, it appears likely the vessel was acquired by Pyongyang and used to make a delivery on its arrival voyage.”

A NEW CREW?

When NK Pro initially inquired about the An Hai 6’s activities near Busan, South Korean officials said the ship had picked up cargo from the port city.

However, port authorities have since clarified that the An Hai 6 only changed crew members, a statement corroborated by port records seen by NK Pro that show the ship arrived in Busan with 16 crew members but left with eight. 

The same records show that a South Korean company named JPL Co Ltd was the registered shipping agent for the An Hai 6’s visit to Busan. Port authorities declined to comment on the owner or address of JPL but said that the company was “Busan-based.” NK Pro contacted three companies with the name JPL Co Ltd in Busan, but all denied any connection with the An Hai 6. 

Port authorities also declined to provide additional information about the crew change or the ship’s cargo at the time, but high-resolution imagery from RUSI shows the An Hai 6 outside Busan and Nampho laden with at least 12 shipping containers and what may be two large vehicles or machines.

Niue Ship Registry, the entity that reflagged the vessel, is part of a Singaporean network of companies that has a history of doing business with the DPRK. 

The contact email listed on Niue Ship Registry’s website uses the domain marincos.com, which hosts Seabliss Marine Services Pte Ltd. Seabliss Marine Services serves as an intermediary with exclusive agency rights for those looking to flag vessels with the nations of Tuvalu, Kiribati, Niue and Nauru — all of which North Korea has used to disguise its vessels.

One of Niue Ship Registry’s directors and its majority shareholder, David Chong Kwok Yong, also serves as the director of Catherine Investments Pte Ltd alongside a Singaporean national named Chong Koy Sen, corporate records reviewed by NK Pro show. Niue Ship Registry and Catherine Investments are also registered to the same address in Singapore.

Chong Koy Sen served as the director of the now-defunct Sovereign Ventures Inc. Neil Watts, a maritime and compliance expert who formerly investigated the network responsible for laundering vessel identities through these nations, described the company as a “one-stop shop” for flag hopping, including through the Niue Ship Registry.

In 2001, Sovereign Ventures became the first company awarded onshore oil and gas exploration rights in North Korea. Chong Koy Sen also appears to serve as director of Korasia Shipping Corporation, another company with established shipping relations with North Korea and ties to a former Pacific Asia Holdings director, Lim Mei Peng.

David Chong Kwok Yong did not immediately respond to an NK Pro inquiry about his relationship or lack thereof with Chong Koy Sen.

The case of the An Hai 6 shows that as international sanctions have isolated Pyongyang from the global economy, the country has become adept at leveraging overseas shell company networks and foreign nationals to import sanctioned goods. One of those restricted goods is ships themselves, one reason why the DPRK’s merchant fleet is among the oldest in the world.

As of early July, the An Hai 6 continues to loiter outside Nampho’s lock gates, likely to fulfill COVID-19 quarantine requirements. 

Edited by Bryan Betts