Royal Navy frigate detects ships violating UN sanctions on North Korea

The Royal Navy Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond recently conducted operations in the East China Sea to support United Nations sanctions efforts targeted against the Democratic Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programmes.

The sanctions, adopted in 2017, ban the supply of fuel or refined petroleum products to the DPRK.

Detaching from the UK Carrier Strike Group, currently deployed to the Indo-Pacific, Richmond captured evidence of ships apparently breaching UN sanctions and collected updated intelligence on other ships of interest, providing video and photographic evidence to the UN Enforcement Coordination Cell. The operations were conducted and completed earlier this month.

Officials said this is the first occasion since 2019 that a Royal Navy ship has supported UN sanctions monitoring and enforcement activity.