By Jite Eriabie
A North Korean ship, identified as Jie Shun, which was flying the Cambodian flag, has been seized off Egypt with a huge cache of weapons believed to be originating from North Korea.
The seizure occurred in August when customs agents in Egypt boarded the ship only to discover more than 30,000 rocket-propelled grenades hidden under iron ore.
Three ships owned by a North Korean firm registered under the Cambodian flag of convenience had been removed from the country’s ship registry a year ago, Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said.
The country’s government said that it had terminated the contract with the International Ship Registry of Cambodia (ISROC) as a sole and exclusive flag state administration and asked the organization to stop registering the Cambodian-flagged ships in 2015 and close down the ship registration.
The ships that had valid registry certificate with Cambodian flag were allowed to sail under the flag until the expiration date, which was due in August 2016.
Any ship claimed to be under the Cambodian flag after this date is considered illegal, the ministry said.
Furthermore, the ministry added that it had informed the Embassy of the Republic of Korea that the said vessels had been removed from the registry in March 2016.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.