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Another North Korean Ship Made Run to Cuba in 2012 North Korea Says Freighter Carried Legal Load of Arms
(about 2 hours later)
An aging North Korean freighter similar to the one impounded by Panama for carrying concealed Cuban military equipment made the same voyage last year without attracting suspicion, passing through the Panama Canal and calling at the same two Cuban ports, an international maritime traffic monitor said on Wednesday. North Korea broke four days of silence early Thursday over a rusty North Korean freighter impounded by Panama for concealing a load of Cuban weapons, insisting that they were transported legally and demanding that the Panamanian authorities immediately release the vessel and its 35 detained crew members.
The monitor, IHS Fairplay, said both vessels — the 390-foot Oun Chong Nyon Ho, which made the voyage last year, and the 450-foot Chong Chon Gang — usually worked much closer to North Korea, making their trans-Pacific trips to Cuba even more unusual. A statement released by North Korea’s Foreign Ministry described the weapons as aging armaments that needed refurbishment under a contract with Cuba. The statement also harshly criticized Panama for what it called that country’s pretext of searching the vessel for narcotics and its violent treatment of the crew.
It was the first time the North Korean authorities had said anything about the seizure of the 450-foot Chong Chon Gang this past Sunday at the north entrance to the Panama Canal, following what the Panamanians have described as a violent standoff with the crew members, who used cudgels to attack a boarding party of Panamanian marines as the captain claimed he was having a heart attack and tried to commit suicide.
The boarding party arrested all aboard and discovered a cargo of cold war-era antiaircraft radar components and other antiquated armaments buried beneath more than 200,000 bags of Cuban brown sugar.
“The Panamanian investigation authorities rashly attacked and detained the captain and crewmen of the ship on the plea of ‘drug investigation’ and searched its cargo but did not discover any drug,” the ministry said in a statement carried by North Korea’s official Korea Central News Agency. “Yet, they are justifying their violent action, taking issue with other kind of cargo aboard the ship.”
The statement said “this cargo is nothing but aging weapons which are to send back to Cuba after overhauling them, according to a legitimate contract.” It demanded that Panama “let the apprehended crewmen and ship leave without delay.”
The North Korean statement came a little more than a day after Cuba acknowledged it owned the weapons. The Panamanian government has requested that the United Nations Security Council investigate its suspicion that the North Koreans had violated the litany of sanctions imposed over its weapons trading and proliferation activities.
The Chong Chon Gang, an aging vessel that has a history of run-ins with international maritime authorities for transporting narcotics and ammunition, has rarely visited Cuba or the Western Hemisphere, according to international maritime tracking services. The mystery of the vessel’s voyage deepened on Wednesday with word that another old North Korean freighter, the 390-foot Oun Chong Nyon Ho, had made the same trip last year without attracting suspicion, passing through the Panama Canal and calling at the same two Cuban ports.
IHS Fairplay, an international maritime traffic monitor said, both vessels usually worked much closer to North Korea.
“They don’t normally make these ocean passages,” Richard Hurley, a senior maritime data specialist at IHS Fairplay, said in a phone interview from the group’s London offices. “It’s intriguing to see two fairly small ships making the same pattern.”“They don’t normally make these ocean passages,” Richard Hurley, a senior maritime data specialist at IHS Fairplay, said in a phone interview from the group’s London offices. “It’s intriguing to see two fairly small ships making the same pattern.”
Mr. Hurley said a new review of IHS Fairplay tracking data showed the two freighters were among five North Korean cargo vessels that had traversed the Panama Canal since 2010, underscoring the rarity of North Korean shipping in the area.Mr. Hurley said a new review of IHS Fairplay tracking data showed the two freighters were among five North Korean cargo vessels that had traversed the Panama Canal since 2010, underscoring the rarity of North Korean shipping in the area.
The revelation of what Mr. Hurley called a “mirror image” voyage in 2012 by the Oun Chong Nyon Ho added a new twist to the intrigue surrounding the impounded ship, which has been docked at the port of Manzanillo in Panama since Sunday, after a five-day standoff with Panamanian authorities who had requested permission to inspect the cargo. It was not known what cargo the Oun Chong Nyon Ho might have carried to or from Cuba in 2012. IHS Fairplay’s tracking data showed it made the same Cuban port calls as its impounded sister vessel, stopping first in Havana for a few days in May 2012, then visiting Puerto Padre, a major sugar export point, for five days, then returning to Havana for a stopover of about three weeks before heading home.
The ship’s captain and crew were detained at a naval base after they violently resisted a boarding party of Panamanian marines acting on a tip that the ship was carrying contraband.
The marines discovered a load of Russian-built military equipment owned by Cuba, including antiquated Soviet-era radar gear, hidden among more than 200,000 sacks of Cuban brown sugar. After two days of silence, Cuba acknowledged the cargo on Tuesday night, describing it as “obsolete defensive weapons” sent to North Korea to be refurbished.
Angry Panamanian officials have protested the attempt to ship the cargo through the canal as a violation of United Nations Security Council sanctions on North Korea, which has yet to comment publicly on the episode. The shipment also threatens to derail recent efforts by the Cuban government to ease its prolonged estrangement from the United States, where some lawmakers are calling for retribution.
At the United Nations on Wednesday, a spokesman for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that he was aware of the impounded ship’s reported cargo but that it was up to the Security Council’s sanctions committee to determine any violations.
The 35 detained North Koreans, including the captain, who had sought to commit suicide after his ship was impounded, were receiving unspecified medical attention, the Panama prosecutor’s office said Tuesday night. In a possible indication that they might face criminal charges, the office said the crew would be assisted by Panamanian lawyers and interpreters in interrogations.
It was not known what cargo the Oun Chong Nyon Ho might have carried to or from Cuba in 2012. IHS Fairplay’s tracking data showed it made the same Cuban port calls as its impounded sister vessel, stopping first in Havana for a few days in May 2012, then visiting Puerto Padre, a major sugar export point, for five days, then returning to Havana for a stopover of about three weeks before heading home through the Panama Canal.
Mr. Hurley said he could only presume that the Oun Chong Nyon Ho had picked up a load of sugar at Puerto Padre. Sugar is a major Cuban export, but North Korea is not a frequent customer.Mr. Hurley said he could only presume that the Oun Chong Nyon Ho had picked up a load of sugar at Puerto Padre. Sugar is a major Cuban export, but North Korea is not a frequent customer.
José Raúl Mulino, Panama’s minister of security, said on Wednesday that his government had requested help from the United States and Britain in its investigation of the impounded ship. At the United Nations on Wednesday, a spokesman for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that he was aware of the impounded ship’s reported cargo but that it was up to the Security Council’s sanctions committee to determine any violations.
In an interview on Panama’s TVN-2 television network, Mr. Mulino also disclosed that Cuba had asked Panama to release the ship the day before it was impounded, which surprised him at the time.
“Now I definitely understand, as does anyone who has been following the case, why the captain was so reticent in his cooperation, why the varied efforts at mutiny from the crew,” Mr. Mulino said.

Karla Zabludovsky contributed reporting from Mexico City.

Karla Zabludovsky contributed reporting from Mexico City.