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North Korean vessel owned by VI-based co. seized in the Philippines
Despite flying a Sierra Leone flag, the Jin Teng was seized on Monday March 14, 2016 on suspicions the vessel was operated by a North Korean shipping group that had been blacklisted by the UN and faced an asset freeze.
Presidential Communications Undersecretary Manolo Quezon III said the U.N. sanctions would be applied to the MV Jin Teng, which arrived Thursday at Subic Bay, a former US naval base that’s now a key commercial port. The ship has 21 North Korean crewmen.
“Our obligation is essentially to impound the vessel and not allow it to leave port and that the crew must eventually be deported,” Quezon said in a radio interview.
The 4,355-ton vessel is among 31 ships listed as being North Korean owned and that should be held under an “assets freeze” order, Philippine Foreign Assistant Secretary Gary Domingo said.
It’s one of the first known impositions of the toughest Security Council sanctions on the reclusive country in two decades, reflecting growing anger at Pyongyang’s recent nuclear test and rocket launch in defiance of a ban on all nuclear-related activity.
Vessel owned by VI-based company
Philippine Coast Guard regional commander Raul Belesario, however, told The Associated Press that Jin Teng’s papers show that it’s a Sierra Leone-flagged ship owned by a company based in the Virgin Islands and managed by a firm in China’s Shandong province.
“On paper, it’s not North Korean,” he said.
The North Korean crewmen have not been restricted since they arrived and showed their travel papers, Belesario said, adding that there were no available records to check whether the Jin Teng has traveled to North Korea in the past.
Coast guard personnel with two bomb sniffer dogs boarded the vessel Thursday March 10, 2016 after it arrived from Indonesia. The inspectors did not find any suspicious materials, but spotted minor safety deficiencies, including missing fire hoses, a corroded air vent and electrical switches without insulation.
Aside from those deficiencies, which were being dealt with by the crew, there were no other issues with the ship, which is scheduled to sail next to southwestern China’s Zhanjiang port, Belesario said.
Domingo said the Philippine government will proceed to hold the ship in line with the latest Security Council sanctions order and submit a report to U.N. officials.
Asked about the ownership issue, Domingo said it can be checked if the ship was using “a flag of convenience” to hide its true owner, adding that Philippine officials will meet soon to determine what to do next with the ship in coordination with the U.N.
The latest Security Council sanctions include mandatory inspections of cargo leaving and entering North Korea by sea or air, a ban on all sales or transfers of small arms and light weapons to Pyongyang, and the expulsion of diplomats from the North who engage in “illicit activities.”
Hon Fraser responds
Writing on his Facebook page, Leader of the Opposition Honourable Julian Fraser RA (R3) said US hypocrisy is something that he spoke about just recently.
"A few weeks ago I wrote about US hypocrisy. Today I can cite yet further evidence of same, as indicated in the article [above]," he wrote.
Hon Fraser, one of the few politicians who understands the financial services sector, writing on March 7, 2016 on his Facebook page, blasted a report that listed the Virgin Islands as one of some fourteen nations in the wider Caribbean that were named by the United States as “major money laundering” countries in the 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) released by the US State Department on Wednesday March 2, 2016.
The Opposition Leader labeled the United States as a “hypocrite.”
Hon Fraser, a former Deputy Chief Minister under a Virgin Islands Party (VIP) Government, went on to say that the countries listed as ‘Money Laundering’ countries “were all created by the United States.”
The feisty Leader of the Opposition asked readers not to waste time reading the report coming from the “world’s number one hypocrite- The United States of America.”
Meanwhile, CEO of BVI Finance Julien N. Johnson, when approached for a comment on the North Korean vessel being impounded, said he needed to read the article first. Efforts to reach Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the BVI Financial Services Commission Dr Robert A. Mathavious for a comment proved futile.
Premier Dr The Honourable D. Orlando Smith did not respond to calls when we sought a comment from him on the matter.
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