China secures the docking of a Russian cargo ship sanctioned by the US, involved in North Korean arms transfers to Russia, according to satellite images. The evidence is likely to support growing US concerns about Beijing’s support for Moscow in its war of aggression against Ukraine.
The British think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) claims that the Russian ship Angara, which since August 2023 has transported thousands of containers believed to contain North Korean munitions to Russian ports, has been docked at a shipyard since February Chinese navy from Zhejiang province (east), writes Reuters.
Satellite images obtained by RUSI in recent months from companies including San Francisco-based terrestrial imaging firm Planet Labs PBC showed the Angara ship docked at the Zhoushan Xinya shipyard in Zhejiang, which on the website its website says it is the largest private ship repair company in China.
The ship was identified by its unique automatic identification (AIS) transponder, which was turned on briefly, presumably for safety reasons, as it navigated a busy stretch of the Korea Strait en route to China.
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RUSI said that before arriving in China on February 9, apparently for repairs or maintenance, the Angara ship docked in North Korean and Russian ports in January with its transponder turned off. It stopped broadcasting again shortly after arriving in China.
The vessel, sanctioned by the US in May 2022, had made at least 11 deliveries between the North Korean port of Rajin and Russian ports since August 2023, according to RUSI, which tracked its movements as part of a project to use open-source data to monitor networks evasion of the sanctions imposed on North Korea.
China’s embassy in Washington said it did not know the details of Angara, but that China “always opposes unilateral sanctions and long-term jurisdiction that have no basis in international law or mandate from the Security Council.”
China’s Foreign Ministry also said it had no information on the matter.
Joseph Byrne, a researcher at RUSI, said the Chinese government should know that the US-sanctioned ship was docked at its shipyard. “If they let (Angara) leave the port uninspected and freshly repaired, then it shows that China probably won’t take any action against these Russian ships,” Byrne said.
A US State Department spokesman said it was aware of “credible reports from open sources” that the Angara ship is currently docked in a Chinese port and said the matter had been raised with Chinese authorities. “We call on all member states to fulfill their obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 2397,” the official said, referring to a United Nations resolution that restricts trade with North Korea and requires states to UN to deregister any ship involved in illegal activities.
A senior State Department diplomat, Kurt Campbell, said this month that Washington would not “stand idly by” if Beijing increased its support for Moscow.
The Russian Foreign Ministry and the Zhoushan Xinya Shipyard did not respond to requests for comment on the Angara.
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