SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) -- The real owner of a Dominican-flagged tanker, which was recently spotted while engaging in an illicit transfer of goods to a North Korean tanker on the East China Sea, is a Singaporean energy company, a U.S. broadcaster reported Thursday.
On Saturday, the Japanese government said its Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C patrol aircraft spotted the Dominican-registered Yuk Tung contact the North Korean tanker Rye Song Gang No. 1 in defiance of U.N. sanctions on the North, while releasing related photos.
The Yuk Tung's real owner turns out to be Singapore-based Yuk Tung Energy Pte., said Voice of America, citing data from the Asia-Pacific Port State Control (PSC).
The company's telephone number, email address and website, however, were not included in the data, the broadcaster said. In general, the PSC provides basic information on each ship's owner, address, and telephone and fax numbers.
The broadcaster guessed the transferred goods might have been oil products given that the ships are both tankers.
This photo, released by the Japanese defense ministry, shows the Dominican-registered Yuk Tung and the Rey Song Gang No. 1 tankers engaging in an illicit transfer of goods on the East China Sea.
On Wednesday, Japanese news outlets said Japan has told the U.N. in a subsequent report that it strongly suspects the ships' transferring of goods in violation of the U.N. sanctions against the North's nuclear and missile tests, although it did not specify what the goods were.
The U.N. Resolution 2375, adopted in September, bans member countries from ship-to-ship transfers of any goods for the North, and the Resolution 2397, adopted last month, allows a country to capture and look into a vessel suspected of engaging in prohibited activities.
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