Philippines Bars North Korean Cargo Ship
The Philippine coast guard inspected a North Korean cargo vessel that docked at a port northwest of Manila in one of the first such checks since the U.N. Security Council imposed further sanctions on Pyongyang over its nuclear program, reports AP.
The 6,830 dwt general cargo ship Jin Teng is among 31 vessels that could be forced to stop trading after being included in an asset freeze against a North Korean shipping company under the tightened sanctions passed unanimously by the Security Council.
The registered owner is Golden Soar Development, which has an address in Hong Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui tourist district, according to the Equasis shipping database hosted by the French transport ministry, although there was no telephone listing for the company.
Reuters reported Thursday that Philippine authorities were preparing to inspect the North Korean cargo ship Jin Teng in the Subic Bay port of Olongapo.
Three Coast Guard officials, accompanied by a dogs trained to detect explosives, searched the ship and checked crew documents on Thursday after the ship docked at Subic Bay, a former U.S. naval base and now commercial port, a coast guard commander told Reuters.
Nothing suspicious was found on the ship or its 21 North Korean crew, although several minor safety problems including issues with firefighting and electrical equipment meant the ship could not leave port until they were fixed, the commander said.
The U.N. resolution said the 31 ships were economic resources controlled or operated by Ocean Maritime Management and therefore subject to the asset freeze.
