UN slaps global port ban on four ships over DPRK exports

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The UN has banned four ships from all ports globally – a historic first – after they were found to have violated sanctions imposed on the DPRK over its recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

The UN Security Council’s DPRK sanctions committee agreed at the request of the United States to blacklist the ships on October 3 for "transporting prohibited items from the DPRK", according to documents seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

The Associated Press news agency quoted Hugh Griffiths, head of the Security Council’s panel on DPRK sanctions, as saying “this is the first time in UN history" that such a ban has been imposed.

The four vessels are the first to be designated under stepped-up sanctions imposed on the DPRK by the Security Council in August and September.

DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 23, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Sources said the four ships were found carrying coal, seafood and iron ore, exports banned by a UN resolution imposed in August.

The 193 UN member states are now required to prohibit port entry to the Comoros-flagged Petrel 8, St. Kitts and Nevis-flagged Hao Fan 6, DPRK-flagged Tong San 2 and Cambodia-flagged Jie Shun.

A bid to blacklist four other ships has meanwhile been suspended, pending further investigation.

The DPRK is under a UN arms embargo and the Security Council has banned trade in exports such as coal, textiles, seafood, iron and other minerals to choke funding for Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs.

The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted nine sanctions resolutions on the DPRK since 2006.

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters