US seizes Singaporean’s tanker used to deliver illegal oil to North Korea

A New York federal judge issued a judgment of forfeiture authorising the US to take ownership of the M/T Courageous, which is currently in Cambodia

The ship, which has a capacity of 2,734 tonnes, was purchased by Kwek Kee Seng, who remains at large, according to a Justice Department statement

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The oil tanker M/T Courageous docked in an undisclosed location and date. Photo: US Department of Justice / AFP

Published: 3:41pm, 31 Jul 2021Updated: 10:20pm, 1 Aug 2021

The United States has seized a Singapore-owned oil tanker that was used to make illegal oil deliveries to North Korea, the Justice Department said.

A New York federal judge issued a judgment of forfeiture authorising the US to take ownership of the M/T Courageous, which is currently in Cambodia.

The ship, which has a capacity of 2,734 tonnes, was purchased by Singaporean national Kwek Kee Seng, who remains at large, according to a Justice Department statement on Friday.

A petrol pump attendant fills up a taxi in Pyongyang. Photo: AFP

“Kwek and his co-conspirators engaged in an extensive scheme to evade … US and UN sanctions by using vessels under their control to covertly transport fuel to North Korea,” the statement said.

From August to December 2019, the Courageous would illegally stop transmitting its location information. Satellite imagery showed that during that time, the tanker engaged in ship-to-ship transfers of more than US$1.5 million worth of oil to a North Korean ship.