Russian oil tankers have supplied North Korea with fuel on at least three occasions in recent months, transferring cargo overboard, according to two major Western European security sources, providing an economic lifeline to the Communist state.
Sales of oil products from Russia, the world's second largest oil exporter and a member of the UN Security Council vetoing it, violate UN sanctions, security sources said.
The October and November transfers indicate that smuggling from Russia to North Korea has evolved to unload cargo at sea since Reuters reported in September that North Korean ships were sailing directly from Russia to their homeland. .
"Russian ships have made ship-to-ship transfers of petrochemicals to North Korean ships on several occasions this year in violation of sanctions," the first security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
A second source, which independently confirmed the existence of Russian ship-to-ship fuel trade with North Korea, said there is no evidence of Russian state involvement in the latest transfers.
"There is no evidence that this is backed by the Russian state but these Russian ships are giving the North Koreans a lifeline," the second source said.
The two security sources cited naval intelligence and satellite images of ships operating from Russian Far Eastern ports on the Pacific, but declined to disclose further details to Reuters, saying the material is classified.
The Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Customs Service declined to comment when asked Wednesday if Russian ships had supplied fuel to North Korean ships. The owner of a ship accused of smuggling oil in North Korea has denied any such activity.
The latest report came as China, responding on Friday to criticism from US President Donald Trump, denied it had illegally shipped oil products to North Korea.
North Korea relies on imported fuel to keep its economy in need. It also requires oil for missile activities.
The ship's satellite positioning data consulted by Reuters and available on Reuters Eikon show unusual movements by some of the Russian ships named by security sources including the switching off of transponders that give a precise position.
Sources of security reported that the Russian-flagged vessel Vityaz was a ship that had transferred fuel to North Korean ships.
The Vityaz left the port of Slavyanka near Vladivostok in Russia on October 15 with 1.600 tons of oil, according to the control documents of the Russian ports.
Documents submitted by the ship's agent to the Russian state's port control authority indicated its destination as a fishing fleet in the Sea of Japan. Shipping data showed that the ship turned off its transponder for a few days while sailing in open waters.
According to European security sources, Vityaz conducted a ship-to-ship transfer with North Korea's tanker Sam Ma 2 offshore in October.
Reuters could not independently verify the transfer as the ship's tracking data showed that Sam Ma 2 had deactivated his transponder since early August.
The owner of the Russian ship denied any contact with North Korean ships, but he also said he was not aware of the fact that the ship was feeding fishing boats.
Yaroslav Guk, deputy director of the tanker owner, Alisa Ltd, based in Vladivostok, said the ship has no contact with North Korean ships.
"Absolutely not, this is very dangerous," Guk told Reuters by phone. "It would be complete madness."
Once contacted, Guk said the ship had no contact with North Korean ships and would not answer any further questions.
An official from East Coast Ltd, the ship's transport agent, declined to comment.
Two other Russian oil tankers made similar trips between mid-October and November, starting from the ports of Slavyanka and Nakhodka offshore, where they switched off their transponders, showed shipping data.
In September, Reuters reported that at least eight North Korean ships that left Russia laden with fuel this year headed for their homeland, despite declaring other destinations, a ploy US officials claim is often used to mine. sanctions.
A Russian shipping source with knowledge of Far Eastern marine practices said North Korean ships have stopped loading fuel in Russia's Far Eastern ports, but that the fuel is being transported to sea by oil transfer tankers from ship to ship or even from fishing boats.
China on Friday denied that it had unlawfully sold oil products to North Korea, after Trump said he was not happy that China allowed oil to reach the isolated nation.
The United States has proposed that the UN Security Council blacklist contains the 10 ships for the transportation of banned articles from North Korea, according to documents seen by Reuters this month.
The ships are accused of "conducting illegal ship-to-ship transfers of refined petroleum products to North Korean ships or of illegally transporting North Korean coal to other countries for export," the United States said in the proposal to the UN.