UN blocks vessels as part of latest sanctions against North Korea

The United Nations Security Council designated 27 vessels for port bans, de-flagging, or asset freezes, and prohibited transactions with several shipping companies that have links to North Korea.    Ratcheting up sanctions against North Korea, the United Nations Security Council on Friday approved general prohibitions on several ships from entering ports worldwide, as well as the de-flagging of several ships, in addition to asset freezes for certain vessels, the UN announced.
   Thirteen ships are now subject to a UN assets freeze and general ban on port entry, while 12 ships are now subject to UN-ordered de-flagging and general bans on port entry, and two vessels owned by UN-designated North Korean entities are subject to a UN assets freeze.
   Port bans will apply unless vessel entry is required in emergency or in the case of return to port of origination, or unless a committee overseeing the North Korea sanctions on the UN Security Council determines in advance that port entry is required for humanitarian purposes or “any other purposes consistent with” certain UN resolutions.
   That security council committee, the [Resolution] 1718 Sanctions Committee, on Friday also added five Chinese entities, 12 North Korean entities, one Singaporean entity, one Panamanian entity, one Samoan entity, and one Marshall Islands entity to its 1718 Sanctions List. The vast majority of those designees are shipping companies.
   The committee also added to the list an individual who has “coordinated North Korean coal exports with a North Korean broker operating in a third country.”
   UN Security Council Resolution 1718, adopted in 2006, initiated a series of economic and commercial sanctions on North Korea, after that nation’s claimed nuclear test on Oct. 9, 2006.
   The Treasury Department had rolled out its own batch of sanctions for most of the vessels on the list in February.
   This most recent round of UN sanctions builds upon several other UN sanctions imposed in the past year, the most recent rounds being rolled out in August, September, and December, each one imposed after a North Korean weapon test.
   Those sanctions targeted North Korean energy supplies, the use of North Korean workers overseas, and North Korean textile and seafood exports, among other areas.
   In its announcement, the 1718 Sanctions Committee recalled UN Security Council Resolution 2321’s statement that the committee, “if it has information that provides reasonable grounds to believe the vessels are or have been related to nuclear- or ballistic-missile-related programmes or activities prohibited by relevant resolutions, may require” de-flagging, port prohibitions, and asset freezes for subject vessels.
   The asset freezes cover tangible, intangible, movable, immovable, actual, and potential assets of “every kind,” which may potentially be used to obtain funds, goods or services, such as vessels, according to the announcement.