MPA: North Korean Ships Cannot Bunker in Singapore

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has informed the shipping community that Singaporean ships may lose their licence if dealing with North Korean individuals.

Under the latest update to the sanction against North Korean, Singapore unveiled a prohibition against using the country’s ships to supply or procure certain items. Namely, Singaporeans are not permitted to supply marine fuel or provide bunkering services to any vessels with the flag of North Korea under certain circumstances.

Additionally, no owner or master of a ship registered as a Singapore ship “shall carry, or cause or permit to be carried, on board or on or in any part of the ship” any designated export item for supply, sale or transfer to any person in the North Korea.

An executive order on imposing additional sanctions against North Korea was issued by the United States President Donald Trump in September 2017, after the country conducted nuclear missile tests.

The widened sanctions targeted North Korea’s shipping industry, trade, ports, and manufacturing. As a result, vessels that have called at a port in North Korea within the previous 180 days, and vessels that have engaged in a ship‑to‑ship transfer with such a vessel within the previous 180 days, were blocked from calling at any port in the United States.