According to sources, a North Korean cargo ship suspected of smuggling coal recently sank in the waters of the Yellow Sea after colliding with a Chinese vessel, resulting in the deaths of nearly 20 North Korean crew members.
Reports from South Korean media such as Yonhap News Agency indicated that at the end of February, a North Korean cargo ship believed to be transporting coal was sailing in the Yellow Sea with its Automatic Identification System (AIS) turned off. The ship collided with a Chinese vessel in waters near a port in southeastern China before sinking.
Despite rescue efforts by Chinese authorities, only a few North Korean crew members were saved while around 15-20 people perished. The Chinese vessel sustained minor damages in the collision.
The incident occurred in an area where the North Korean cargo ship was likely navigating to export coal. The region was shrouded in thick fog at the time, resulting in low visibility.
The North Korean cargo ship is believed to have violated sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), leading to silence on the matter from both North Korea and Chinese authorities.
Under UN Security Council Resolution 2371 passed in 2017, North Korea is strictly prohibited from exporting coal, iron ore, other mineral resources, and seafood.
North Korean ships often disable their AIS systems, which transmit location and speed data to relevant authorities, in order to evade UN Security Council sanctions.
Sources also revealed that the involved North Korean cargo ship appeared to be overloaded, causing the cargo and the vessel to sink together.
In a similar incident in March 2017 near Lianyungang, China, a North Korean cargo ship collided with a Chinese vessel and sunk, but all personnel on board were rescued. At that time, the Chinese Ministry of Transport publicly disclosed the details of the collision.