Reuters: Russia has repeatedly supplied oil to North Korea bypassing sanctions

A Russian tanker violated international trade sanctions by transferring fuel to a North Korean vessel at sea at least four times from October 2017 to May 2018, reported Reuters two crew members who were aboard at the time.

Фото: Depositphotos

Such transactions could provide economic support for North Korea and ease the isolation of the communist state. DPRK leader Kim Jong-un should meet with US President Donald Trump in Vietnam this week.

Primportbunker, which owned the Tantal tanker that carried the fuel aboard the North Korean vessel, did not respond to telephone requests for comment. The door to the office in Vladivostok, where Primportbunker is based, was closed when a Reuters correspondent arrived there. No one answered the knock and the doorbell.

Making four overseas voyages between Oct. 13, 2017, and May 7, 2018, the tanker Tantal indicated it was carrying fuel to the Chinese port of Ningbo, according to port records and ship tracking data from financial services company Refinitiv.

But instead he met in neutral waters with a North Korean ship and poured him fuel, two crew members said.

They said the fuel transfer occurred when the Tantalus transponder, which allows it to track the ship at sea, was not working. According to shipping industry experts, it was either deliberately turned off or the Tantalus entered an area not covered by radar.

Each time, the radio beacon turned on again when the Tantalus crossed the Russian water border and was near the port of Vladivostok. The sources declined to give their names, citing threats of persecution.

“We checked in at the port of Ningbo and went to the 12-mile zone (beyond which the Russian maritime border ends),” said one of the crew members, describing the four journeys.

“They were working there at night with the North Korean tanker Chon Myong 1,” he said.

Such transactions violate international sanctions imposed on North Korea in connection with its nuclear program. These include a UN ban on the export of 90 percent of refined petroleum products to Pyongyang.

Washington stated that he has evidence of “consistent and widespread violations” of the sanctions regime by Russia. Moscow earlier, in response to charges of violating the sanctions, stated that they were not supported by evidence.

Three other flights

The Russian Foreign Ministry and the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which imposes and enforces economic and trade sanctions, did not respond to queries about the Tantalus tanker. The UN's independent panel of experts, which monitors implementation of the sanctions, also did not respond to requests.

Russia's Far Eastern Customs Administration said it could not provide information about Tantalus' flights. The administration of the seaport of Primorsky Krai, which includes the port of Vladivostok, said it requested information from the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport in response to questions from Reuters, but the agency did not provide any information.

Фото: Depositphotos

One of the crew members who, according to him, was on board during the four voyages, said that the ship that received fuel went under the flag of North Korea and the name Chon Myong 1 was written on the hull.

The UN has included Chon Myong-1 in the Sanctions List of ships in March 2018 of the year for illegal delivery of fuel to North Korea.

Reuters was unable to obtain comment from North Korea or the owners of Chon Myong1.

Two crew members said that upon arrival at the port, the crew of the Tantalus claimed to have transferred the fuel at sea to a Chinese vessel.

The third crew member said that the Tantalus was not meeting with a North Korean ship, but with the Chinese-registered Hui Tong 27. And upon returning to port, he told port authorities that he had transferred fuel to that particular ship. But vessel tracking data from financial firm Refinitiv showed the Hui Tong 27 was not in the fuel transfer area at the time.

The Tantalus also sailed to Ningbo on three other occasions between October 2017 and May 2018, according to port documents. But two crew members who spoke to Reuters could not talk about these flights or any violations of sanctions during them.

In December 2017, Reuters, citing two senior Western European security sources, reported that Russian tankers had delivered fuel to North Korea at least three times, also transferring it in international waters. Security sources did not mention Tantalus.

Financial difficulties

A court in Vladivostok entered bankruptcy proceedings against Primportbunker at the request of the Russian tax service on September 18 last year, according to a published court decision. The first stage of the bankruptcy procedure, observation, is still ongoing - the company is now under temporary management, the managers are assessing whether it can pay off creditors. If payment is impossible, the assets will be sold and Primportbunker will cease to exist, in accordance with the law.

The company had problems with employee benefits. Two crew members Reuters spoke to said they were not always paid on time.

Denis Vlasov, managing partner of the Vladpravo law firm, which provided legal advice to Primportbunker, confirmed that “the company’s management was strenuously taking measures to save the company and repay debts to creditors, including employees.” Vlasov said that the company stopped working with Primportbunker about a year ago. He doesn't know anything about the Tantalus flights officially going to Ningbo.

Ship brokers, citing customs data, said that on three of seven voyages from October 2017 to May 2018, the manufacturer of the fuel that Tantal carried to China was the Komsomolsk Refinery in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The refinery, owned by state oil company Rosneft, did not respond to requests for comment. There is nothing to indicate that Rosneft was aware of the proposed transfer of fuel to the sea. Rosneft did not respond to requests from Reuters.

According to brokers' data on three Tantalus voyages, oil was purchased from the refinery by a small Primorye trading company, World of Trade. The buyer of fuel from World of Trade was a Chinese company from Shandong, Worldmax Trading Co. Ltd, according to data from customs brokers.

The CEO of World of Trade declined to comment. Reuters was unable to contact Worldmax Trading.

After its last, seventh voyage to China in May 2018, the Tantalus remained in the port of Vladivostok, according to ship tracking data from Refinitiv. Shipping industry sources said the ship is now at anchor.

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