Second North Korean Ship Inspected in the Philippines

Philippines Coast Guard Another North Korean vessel was detained by the Philippines authorities at the Misamis Oriental port in light of the recently imposed stricter sanctions against North Korea, the Manila Bulletin reports. The vessel, which is being held at the countrys Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT), was boarded by customs, immigration, quarantine and security teams for inspection after it arrived at the terminal in the evening hours of March 10. As informed, the inspection did not result in any illegal cargo, however, the authorities are still trying to verify if the vessel was one of the 31 blacklisted ships, stated under the harsher sanctions imposed on the country on March 2. Identified as Tuvalu-flagged tanker Theresa Begornia, the ship allegedly sailed to the terminal from Sandakan, Malaysia carrying palm oil. The vessel unloaded its cargo at Dumaguete, and continued to private ports Limketkai Jetti and Willmar, both under MCT. MT Theresa Begornia has reportedly been deployed on the Malaysia Philippines route for a year. World Maritime News is yet to receive a confirmation from the Philippines Bureau of Customs and the countrys coast guard on the details. The North Korean cargo ship MV Jin Teng was the countrys first vessel to be inspected after the new sanctions came into force. The 1997-built MV Jin Teng was first stopped in Olongapo port due to safety issues. The vessel was subsequently seized and it received a notice of asset freeze from the Philippines coast guard. The sanctions were imposed due to North Koreas ongoing nuclear and ballistic missile-related activities. Last week the country was hit with further sanctions from South Korea related to its maritime industry. World Maritime News Staff