Fiji probes more than 20 vessels for possible North Korean links

Fiji has said that it had identified 20 falsely flagged ships it suspects North Korea is using to evade sanctions. Fiji, along with Interpol and the regional shipping regulator Tokyo MoU, are investigating the vessels a spokesman for the country’s Maritime Safety Authority (MSAF) told Reuters last week.

This month the 18 members of the Pacific Islands Forum agreed to launch an audit of every ship registered in the Pacific to search for any links to North Korea. New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Gerry Brownlee said “what we do know is that declared North Korean GDP is not big enough to support the nuclear program that they’re running, so there has to be significant black market or off-book revenue going into the country”.

UN sanctions introduced in August banned North Korean exports of seafood, from which the country had been expected to earn an estimated $295m in 2017. In Fiji’s case, the North Korea-linked ships had adopted a Fijian flag without formally registering, the MSAF said. In addition to the fraudulent use of flags, Pacific governments expressed concern that North Korean vessels could be registering in nations that allow international ships to use their flags. Brownless said that a review would take place over the next couple of months, with Australia and New Zealand providing intelligence to help small island nations check for North Korean connections.(Source:  Insurance Marine News)