A sanctioned Russian cargo ship recently accused of transporting weapons from South Africa appeared to visit a North Korean port at the center of alleged arms trade between Russia and the DPRK twice this month, including on Thursday, according to NK Pro analysis.

The Lady R is one of at least three large cargo ships that appear to have participated in the alleged arms deal between Russia and the DPRK, and its identification by NK Pro suggests Russia has been leaning on its own vessels and common sanctions evasion tactics to facilitate the operation.

The White House named another Russian-flagged vessel, the Angara, in a bombshell presentation last week detailing what it said was an operation to send containers full of North Korean “military equipment and munitions” by ship to the Russian Far East and then by train to the frontlines of the country’s war on Ukraine.

British think tank RUSI said a cargo ship named the Maria also made multiple trips ferrying containers between the northeastern North Korean port of Rason (Rajin) and the secluded Russian military port of Dunay (Dunai).

The operation appeared to begin in August, according to NK Pro analysis.

RECENT SHIP ACTIVITY

A cargo vessel seen loading and unloading containers at Rason Port on Thursday and earlier in October was likely the Russian-flagged Lady R (IMO 9161003), according to NK Pro analysis of Planet Labs and Google Earth satellite imagery, as well as photos posted to ship-tracking websites.

According to ship-tracking website Fleetmon, the Lady R stopped broadcasting its location via its automatic identification system (AIS) on Oct. 2 after visiting Vostochny Port in Russia’s Nakhodka.

A ship with identical dimensions and features then appeared in Planet Labs high-resolution satellite imagery of Rason Port unloading containers at the northern pier (Pier 1) on Oct. 6 and picking up containers at the middle pier (Pier 2) on Oct. 7 and 8.

A ground-level image reportedly taken on Oct. 9 by a user of the vessel tracking website MarineTraffic subsequently showed the Lady R in waters off Vladivostok, carrying hundreds of containers that it appeared to pick up in North Korea the previous day. 

The same user posted another photo reportedly taken from Vladivostok on Oct. 17 of the Lady R carrying hundreds of containers with logos of Russian shipping companies Fesco and TransContainer.

A ship matching the Lady R’s profile then appeared again at Pier 2 of Rason Port in a satellite image taken on Oct. 19. The Lady R was still not broadcasting its location via AIS as of Thursday.

It’s unclear whether the Lady R recently sailed to the navy port at Dunay, where the U.S. says other vessels offloaded North Korean military equipment for use in the war in Ukraine. No ships matching the appearance of the Lady R showed up in Planet Labs images of Dunay in October, though it could have also stopped at the port outside the times when images were taken, including when initially sailing from Vostochny Port to Rason.

However, its apparent stopovers at Rason and appearance near Vladivostok with cargo containers raises the possibility that the Lady R is engaged in the alleged weapons trade between North Korea and the Russian Far East.

Washington has alleged North Korea seeks Russian “surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles” and “ballistic missile production equipment” as part of the exchange.

The Lady R is similar in appearance to the slightly larger Angara, the cargo vessel the U.S. named in its presentation on the alleged arms trade operation last week. 

The Angara also appeared to be carrying similar containers with the logos of TransContainer and South Korean companies Hyundai and Heung-A in ground-level photographs posted on MarineTraffic and taken near Vladivostok on Sept. 23 and Oct. 14. 

RUSI appears to have mislabeled the ship that appears to be the Lady R as the Angara in its report on the DPRK-Russia trade operation released on Monday. 

HISTORY OF WEAPONS TRADE

The Lady R’s apparent resurfacing in North Korea comes months after the U.S. accused the ship of carrying weapons from South Africa to Russia. 

The South African government rejected the claims, launching an official investigation into the contents of the Lady R’s holds during the Dec. 2022 delivery and concluding that no weapons transfers took place. Pretoria declined to release the full details of the investigation, leaving some observers less than convinced of its claim.

According to the summary report published in September by the South African presidential office, the Lady R delivered “equipment” for the country’s defense forces, which it had ordered in 2018 but was unable to receive due to the pandemic.

The Lady R belongs to MG-Flot, formerly known as TransMorFlot, an entity sanctioned by the U.S. government as part of sectoral restrictions imposed on Russia’s maritime industry after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022. Pretoria rejected the U.S. sanctions as “not binding” on South Africa since they have not been adopted by the U.N.

The company appears to be authorized to procure and contract with the Russian government, likely including the provision of military supplies, according to public records presented by Sayari, a company that aggregates corporate information.

The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control blocked 16 vessels linked to MG-Flot, including the Lady R, stating that ships managed and owned by the company were used to move weapons for the Russian government.

The Angara belongs to the Russian company M Leasing LLC headquartered in Moscow, according to International Maritime Organization (IMO) records. 

The U.S. sanctioned the company and blacklisted the three ships it owns in 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. 

Edited by Bryan Betts