Greater China

Owner claims vessel detained in Subic is Chinese and not North Korean

A Chinese company, Golden Soar Development, has claimed that a general cargo vessel of the company was detained mistakenly identified as a North Korean ship by authorities in the Subic Bay in the Philippines.

Last week, Splash reported that the Philippines had seized a North Korean cargoship Jin Teng under new United Nations sanctions.

The 6,830 dwt Sierra Leone flagged vessel, carrying palm kernels, arrived in Subic from Palembang, Indonesia on March 3 and has since been detained.

Wang Zimin, an official at Golden Soar Development, said the company is registered in British Virgin Islands and the manager of the ship, which was bought in 2011, is Weihai-based Blue Ocean Ship Management and he said the ship has employed 21 North Korean crew, which could have caused the misunderstanding.

According to Wang, the company has changed to employ cheaper North Korean crews since 2014 amid the depressed market situation. The ship used to fly the Tuvalu flag, however Tuvalu has prohibited the vessel to employ North Korean crews in 2015 and it has since changed to Sierra Leone flag instead.

“Apart from that, we have no connection at all with  North Korea, and we haven’t entered North Korean waters for over a year,” Wang said.

Last week, 31 ships owned by North Korean shipping firm Ocean Maritime Management Company (OMM) were blacklisted by the UN as the organisation imposes ever more stringent sanctions on the hermit kingdom.

Golden Soar Development has contacted China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations, seeking to resolve the matter.

Jason Jiang

Jason is one of the most prolific writers on the diverse China shipping & logistics industry and his access to the major maritime players with business in China has proved an invaluable source of exclusives. Having been working at Asia Shipping Media since inception, Jason is the chief correspondent of Splash and associate editor of Maritime CEO magazine. Previously he had written for a host of titles including Supply Chain Asia, Cargo Facts and Air Cargo Week.
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