Philippines frees DPRK ship after UN embargo lifted
Philippine authorities announced the release of a DPRK freighter it seized a month ago as no contraband was found on board and the ship was no longer on the UN blacklist.
M/V Jin Teng of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) docked at Subic Port in Manila, the Philippines on March 4. (Photo: AFP/VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - Philippine aut🃏horities announced the release of a DPRK freighter it seized a month ago as no contraband was found on board and the ship was no longer on the UN blacklist.
On March 6, the Philippines impounded M/V Jin Teng of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) - a 6,830-deadweight-tonne cargo ship with 21 crew members onboard. The arrest was in line with the UN's sanctions against Pyongyang over its nuclear programme.
The Philippine coast guard inspected the ship and found no contraband except some broken navigation aids.
Reuters quoted Charles Jose, a foreign ministry spokesman, as saying: "At the policy level, there is no more basis to continue to hold M/V Jin Teng after U.N. Security Council delisted it from the annex of UNSC Resolution 2270."
The freighter left the Philippines on March 24 for China .
M/V Jin Teng arrived in the Philippines from Palembang, Indonesia on March 3, just hours after the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution No. 2207, tightening its sanctions against Pyongyang following its fourth nuclear test on January 6 and a long-range rocket launch on February 7.
Under the resolution, all countries will monitor every freighter to and from the DPRK. It blacklisted 31 ships owned by DPRK shipping firm Ocean Maritime Management Company (OMM).
But the U.N. Security Council agreed earlier this week to China 's request to remove sanctions on four blacklisted ships as they were not OMM’s and committed not to employ crews from the DPRK in the future. The four ships included the Jin Teng.-VNA
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M/V Jin Teng of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) docked at Subic Port in Manila, the Philippines on March 4. (Photo: AFP/VNA)
