A freight ship visited the North Korean port of Nampho on Friday, a month after picking up cargo in Busan, ship-tracking data shows. The ship’s movements point to what was likely a rare and illegal shipment directly from South to North Korea, an expert told NK Pro. 

The Busan Port Authority told NK Pro that the AN HAI 6 arrived in Busan from Luoyang, China in mid-May. After picking up cargo, the vessel left the city on May 18. The port authority did not specify what cargo the AN HAI 6 was carrying.

The AN HAI 6 was supposed to sail from Busan to the Chinese port of Dalian, according to Marine Traffic data. But automatic identification system (AIS) data shows that the vessel instead made a U-turn some 107 miles (173 km) from Dalian toward North Korean waters.

The AN HAI 6, which is flagged to the tiny Pacific island nation of Niue, then entered DPRK’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on May 23 and stopped transmitting an AIS signal. It reappeared on Friday, 3.3 miles (5.4 km) from the entrance to North Korea’s Nampho port.

Planet Labs Satellite imagery shows a vessel the same length as the AN HAI 6 at the coordinates where the vessel last transmitted an AIS signal just outside Nampho.

Yoon In Joo, a research fellow and director at the Korea Maritime Institute, told NK Pro that the available evidence points to two possible explanations.

“It could have gone directly to Nampho, stayed there and turned on the AIS for other itineraries. Or it could have actually visited a Chinese port, loading cargo for the DPRK and sailing to Nampho,” she said. 

Yoon added that while the AN HAI 6 would have had time to sail to a Chinese port, the ship’s unusual trajectory and U-turn make it more likely that it traveled straight to North Korea.

It is extremely rare for vessels to sail directly from South to North Korea, and the export of many goods to the DPRK is prohibited under U.N. sanctions. Countries are also required to “inspect cargo destined to or originating from the DPRK or brokered by the DPRK that is within or transiting their territories,” according to U.N. Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1718 (2006). 

South Korea’s unilateral May 24 sanctions, imposed in the wake of the sinking of the Cheonan in March 2010, also prohibit direct shipments between the two Koreas.

International Maritime Organization records show that the AN HAI 6 is owned by Hong Kong incorporated company “Ocean Pearl International Marine Co., Limited. Hong Kong’s opaque corporate structures are known to facilitate North Korean sanctions evasion, despite a 2017 legal amendment that sought to improve transparency and crack down on such activities.

In recent weeks, there has been an uptick in maritime trade with North Korea. The Chinese-flagged vessel JIANG SHEN FU 6988 was anchored just outside Nampho’s port entrance on Friday, and the DATONGHAI001 cargo ship could be seen conducting a likely ship-to-ship transfer in waters 42 miles (70km) off the coast of Nampho on June 11. 

Chad O’Carroll contributed reporting to this story. Edited by Bryan Betts.