Japan navy spots NKorea tanker suspected of illegal transfer

TOKYO – Japan’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that a Japanese warship has spotted a North Korean tanker and another ship with a Korean name apparently transferring fuel on the open seas in violation of U.N. sanctions.

The ministry said in a statement that the two vessels were suspected of conducting offshore ship-to-ship transfers banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

It said Japan has informed the Security Council of the May 24 sighting of North Korean tanker Sam Jong 2 alongside a ship of unknown nationality with a Korean name. A Japanese destroyer spotted the two east of Shanghai.

The U.N. has blacklisted Sam Jong 2.

Japan reported earlier this week a similar sighting of another blacklisted North Korean tanker and a suspected Chinese-flagged ship in the East China Sea.

U.N. sanctions on North Korea limit energy trade and ban offshore transfers of goods to North Korean ships.