The Chong Chon Gang has a history of being detained on suspicion of trafficking drugs and ammunition, Griffiths said.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence said the 34-year-old ship, which is registered to the Pyongyang-based Chongchongang Shipping Company, ‘has a long history of detentions for safety deficiencies and other undeclared reasons.’
Griffiths said the Chong Chon Gang was stopped in 2010 in the Ukraine and was attacked by pirates 400 miles off the coast of Somalia in 2009.
Griffiths’ institute has also been interested in the ship because of a 2009 stop it made in Tartus – a Syrian port city hosting a Russian naval base.