While Wise Honest, the vessel suspected of transporting North Korean coal is still being detained by the U.S. ,... the ship carrying the coal it transferred in Indonesia is still at sea, and seems to be heading for Vietnam or China.
Our Lee Ji-won has more.
The bulk carrier suspected of carrying the North Korean coal transferred by the now seized vessel Wise Honest seems to have lost its place to dock.
Voice of America reported Tuesday that, according to a ship tracking website, Dong Thanh, a vessel operating under the Panama flag,... changed direction away from its believed destination, Indonesia.
After being rejected by the Malaysian authorities, its original destination in early May,... the vessel had been anchored in nearby waters for three weeks,... until it seemed to have decided to sail towards Indonesia.
This goes against the Malaysian government's orders to not leave Malaysian territorial waters while investigations were underway.
The ship sailed for two days towards Indonesia in late May. It then stopped some 240 kilometers away,... and an unnamed source quoted by VoA projected that the wait was due to a long holiday in the country,... which could delay the ship from unloading the coal.
But while the ship seemed to be waiting for the holiday to be over, it suddenly turned around and headed North last Friday.
According to the ship tracking website, Dong Thanh is likely to be heading towards Vietnam or China,... raising speculation that it's also been rejected by Indonesia's port authorities.
This comes after Indonesia seized Wise Honest, the vessel suspected of carrying coal out from North Korea in 2018 and handed it over to the U.S. to be dealt with under U.S. and international laws.
However, the coal had been released by the Indonesian government in February after it accepted an Indonesian broker's request to sell the coal as the Certification of Origin showed that "the coal was from Russia."
A UN expert panel, however, said that the 26-thousand 500 tons of North Korean coal, worth 3-million U.S. dollars, should not be sold.
Meanwhile, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson warned that the crackdown on illegal ship to ship transfers will be toughened, during interviews with various media outlets.
She added that this is in line with President Trump's orders to up the pressure campaign on the North.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
