North Korean ship blacklisted

The North Korea sanctions committee of the United Nations imposed sanctions on Ocean Maritime Management, Ltd. (OMM), the company operating the Chong Chon Gang, seized last year near the Panama Canal.

The committee said late Monday it imposed sanctions on the Pyongyang-based OMM because, "it played a key role in arranging the shipment of concealed cargo of arms and related material." The committee also said in its notice that the concealment of weapons demonstrated North Korea’s efforts to contravene sanctions by the United Nations Security Council.

The committee urged enhanced vigilance of North Korean diplomatic personnel abroad after a UN report issued in March this year said that the country had developed sophisticated ways of working around international sanctions and was using its international embassies for illegal trade in weapons.

United States Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power accused North Korea and Cuba of "a cynical, outrageous and illegal attempt…to circumvent United Nations sanctions." She said the company now faces an international asset freeze and travel ban, which means that the OMM will be unable to operate internationally.

The ship was seized in July 2013 by Panama officials who stopped it as it tried to enter the canal. They suspected the ship to be carrying drugs, but the Chong Chon Gang was instead found carrying two Cuban jet fighters, missiles and live munitions beneath its cargo which seemed to have largely consisted of sugar.

After the weapons were discovered, Cuba admitted that it was sending its Soviet-era weapons to North Korea for repair and that they would be returned to Cuba.

Earlier this year, a judge in Panama released the ship and absolved the its captain and crew of all charges. He also ruled that the ship’s weapons be turned over to Panamanian authorities. Thiry-two sailors of the Chong Chon Gang were allowed to sail back home after the owner paid a fine of $700,000 (520,000 euros).

mg/dr (AP, Reuters)