UN bans four ships from all ports for violating North Korea sanctions

The United Nations has prohibited four vessels from calling any port in the world after they were found transporting goods to and from North Korea, which is currently under sanctions for deploying intercontinental ballistics missiles.    The United Nations (UN) Security Council has blocked four vessels from all global ports due to violating sanctions imposed on North Korea.
   The four vessels are Petrel 8, Hao Fan 6, Tong San 2, and Jie Shun, according to a UN press release dated Oct. 10. 
   Hugh Griffiths, head of the panel of experts investigating the implementation of UN sanctions against North Korea, announced the port bans at a briefing to UN member states, which included a North Korean diplomat, the Associated Press reported.
   Griffiths said the ships were transporting prohibited goods and that the ban was “swift action” by the sanctions committee following the port bans authorized in August.
   Those sanctions, which also ban the country from exporting coal, iron, lead and seafood products, are a result of North Korea’s  intercontinental ballistic missiles test. The U.S. passed tough sanctions against Russia, North Korea and Iran, tying the three regimes together, in early August. The U.S. Treasury Department also issued sanctions on Chinese and Russian entities for supporting the North Korean regime shortly after.