http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin.../437196/1/.html

Media reports say North Korean ship heading for Singapore
Posted: 20 June 2009 0005 hrs

SINGAPORE : The US military is tracking a North Korean ship that media reports said is heading for Singapore.

The Kang Nam departed from a port in North Korea on Wednesday and is suspected of carrying weaponry, missile parts or nuclear material.

Responding to media queries, Singapore's Foreign Ministry said Singapore takes seriously the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and if the allegation is true, the ministry said Singapore will act appropriately.

The Kang Nam is the first vessel to be tracked under new UN sanctions passed last week which bans shipments of arms and nuclear and missile technology to and from North Korea. - CNA /ls

Battle stations

wonder how they conclude that it is heading for Singapore? could well be Jakarta or Ho Chi Minh.

A quick reminder to all Singaporeans - stay away from the China-N. Korea border (we should learn from the jailed US journalists). Singaporeans, if any, in the Kaesong Industrial Region special investment zone in N. Korea need to leave now!!!

The ship may be on the way to the Mid-East hence the need to pass thru' the Malacca Straits. I believe Malaysia and Indonesia are monitoring this too

The N. Korean WMD customers are on the other side of the Malacca Strait - therefore the need to sail pass Singapore to deliver their goods... And of the 3 littoral states - SG is the only one participating in the US led PSI. As such, we will be asked to stop it.

I wonder how the mechanics of this "new" sanctions work?

Will Singapore be obliged to board the vessel for inspection?

I'm sure there are some complicated maritime laws involved :)

Not really complicated in law - Singapore has the right to board and inspect any ship that enters our territorial waters and we are members of PSI. The N. Koreans can only avoid Singapore inspection if they can avoid entering Singapore waters. The actual interdiction or boarding will take place in the Singapore Strait (not the Malacca Strait). PSI or the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) was announced by the former President Bush in May of 2003. This initiative builds on existing treaties, agreements, and export control regimes within the international community to prevent proliferation of various items. PSI does not empower countries to do anything that they previously could not do. Most importantly, PSI does not grant governments any new legal authority to conduct interdictions in international waters or airspace. Such interdictions may take place, but they must be confined to what is currently permissible under international law.

In August 2005, a multi-national maritime interdiction exercise, codenamed Exercise Deep Sabre, was conducted in Singapore as part of the Proliferation Security Initiative. The exercise, launched at the Changi Naval Base and conducted in the South China Sea, involved some 2,000 personnel from the military, coast guard, customs and other agencies of 13 countries, including Singapore, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Russia, the United Kingdom and the US. Ten ships and six maritime patrol aircraft were involved in the exercise that aimed to develop and practice effective procedures to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

PSI is a different regime from our Court Ordered ship arrests - which take place within Singapore port limits (based on case law). 'Port Limits' is quite wide and includes all the anchorages (i.e. parking for ships). I know because I have spent some time in a little boat in the western anchorage.

thanks for the explanation.

i found the resolution
http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_resolutions09.htm

the relevant portions below; i don't really get para 13 especially "...if the flag State does not consent to inspection on the high seas, decides that the flag State shall direct the vessel to proceed to an appropriate and convenient port..."

-------------------------------------------

11. Calls upon all States to inspect, in accordance with their national
authorities and legislation, and consistent with international law, all cargo to and from the DPRK, in their territory, including seaports and airports, if the State concerned has information that provides reasonable grounds to believe the cargo contains items the supply, sale, transfer, or export of which is prohibited by paragraph 8 (a), 8 (B), or 8 © of resolution 1718 or by paragraph 9 or 10 of this resolution, for the purpose of ensuring strict implementation of those provisions;

12. Calls upon all Member States to inspect vessels, with the consent of the flag State, on the high seas, if they have information that provides reasonable grounds to believe that the cargo of such vessels contains items the supply, sale, transfer, or export of which is prohibited by paragraph 8 (a), 8 (B), or 8 © of resolution 1718 (2006) or by paragraph 9 or 10 of this resolution, for the purpose of ensuring strict implementation of those provisions;

13. Calls upon all States to cooperate with inspections pursuant to
paragraphs 11 and 12, and, if the flag State does not consent to inspection on the high seas, decides that the flag State shall direct the vessel to proceed to an appropriate and convenient port for the required inspection by the local authorities pursuant to paragraph 11;

Understand that Ministry of Defence has placed SAF on high alert.....even if the vessel dont enter SG waters, in international waters the vessel can also be inspected under the PSI auspices.

Would be interesting to see how the drama unfolds.....NDU and Navy Patrol Vessels / MCVs could be involved or perhaps a LST with Super Puma and Apache assisting.

interesting info on past searches on north korean ships

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/arti...px?RsrcID=49816

please conduct the operation around pedra branca island... i dont want to see a mushroom on top of CNB.

and ... maybe its a good precaution if someone can keep an eye on their athletics during the YOG. no need more firework then is already planned...

darn.. i am paranoid. :lol:

any idea where that ship is now?

The ship left a week ago. It's likely at our gates by now.

Seems the US is not showing resolve or leadership even if it has the legal right to do so.

Singapore shows a little more steel with a shrewdly worded statement.

Just saw a very small report on MSM_90. It says that the ship was last spotted on Tuesday cruising off Shanghai.

Singapore says no notice on tracked North Korean ship
Posted: 25 June 2009 1308 hrs CNA


SINGAPORE: Singapore's maritime and port authority said Thursday it has not received any information that a North Korean ship being tracked by the US military had requested to dock in the city-state...

..."Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said last week that the government will take action if it is true that the vessel is carrying materials banned under UN sanctions"

Read more here


This begs the question: "By what means can it be established that the vessel is carrying "banned" materials?" And who will give that info to Singapore?

In other words, if no confirmation is forthcoming, Singapore will let this chicken fly the coop?

Well, if we dont get a manifest for ships entering our water, they won't be allowed to dock. If they insist on docking, we have to inspect them.

This is what I know, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Perhaps? I think we have some sort of diplomatic and economic relationship with north korea.

Thats sounds like normal procedure. Though from that statement that singapore will act if "allegations" are true, seems to indicates that intel, from US or UN, may also be given to give s'pore grounds to board the ship

Nothing worth neglecting our PSI duties for, in my opinion. If we let the ship go, it's more of a procedural thing, and not because NK is exerting any form of leverage.

To touch the Kang Nam is more like a political gamble IMO. The ship MAY BE carrying illegal arms or nothing at all and the responsibility of searching it may be too hot a potato for any single country to decide. Intelligence, MAY be faulty.

The US wants to ratchet up international consensus and agreement to search the ship, and hence make it a joint effort by concerned countries. If it is a UN directed effort to specifically target and search the Kang Nam, then the entire world would be at war with NK if they decided that the boarding of Kang Nam was a provocation of war.

Unilateral decision to search the ship may really be just too hot a potato for any single country to bear, especially the US. If the North Koreans really decide to start storming the 38th Parallel and shooting off all their fireworks, then the United States would have single handedly restarted the Korean War.

However, I think it is a great opportunity for the US to reaffirm its commitment to multilateral action, as well as for the world to reassess whether they are going to trust the US to be at the helm of the free world under Obama's administration.

The ship isn't going anywhere too fast, and that gives the world enough time to sit down together and decide whether they would tackle North Korea together, or not at all.

Unless China is willing to back North Korea, declaring war would be suicide for the Dear Leader. While NK can clearly cause plenty of casualties by turning Seoul into a wasteland, the might of the South Korean military alone is sufficient to crush North Korea.

And isn't suspicion of illegal activity sufficient cause for a stop and search?

USS Ronald Reagan and USS Chancellorsville are in da house! (or CNB, to be precise)...will it slow down the Kang Nam 1's progress?

Perhaps so. http://www.g2mil.com/Korea.htm

I really think the authors are mistaken that the Chinese view the Japanese as "traditional enemies." Perhaps only by propaganda, but definitely not by Chinese strategic calculations. China today knows that Japan is incapable of threatening them. They have no nuclear capabilities, nor conventional capabilities to invade.

On the other hand, the United States have capabilities to threaten them, and able to do so effectively. China's naval concern has always been about American Carrier Battle groups parking at their front yard. This is why it spends a lot of time and money in developing naval area denial capabilities as well as modern submarines. This is just the Naval and Air Spectrum of potential confrontation.

The Korean peninsular represents the land aspect of that confrontation. As far as China is concern, it doesn't want to have a border with a pro-western country that may allow Americans to base troops in. America is not a country that China can dominate yet, and a potential land conflict would not result favorably for them. So as far as Korea is concerned, China has interests in preserving an anti-western North Korean regime as buffer.

NK Kang Nam ke blakang pusing!

Suspected NKorean ship changes course
By PAULINE JELINEK – 9 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials said Tuesday that a North Korean ship has turned around and is headed back toward the north where it came from, after being tracked for more than a week by American Navy vessels on suspicion of carrying illegal weapons.

Read more here

From the article

Just did a check on GEarth...that's like really in the middle of nowhere...closest land is the Paracel islands but even then that's like 100+ miles to its east...ran out of supplies?

probably couldn't convince us or any other countries to allow it to stop for supplies.

probably really carrying weapons...cannot find a port of call...no choice but go back home

KJI will not be pleased. Hope he will not take it out on the poor crew