The number of inspections of North Korean ships tumbled in the first 11 months of 2018 compared to last year, highlighting the decreased range and activity of the DPRK’s fleet this year.

Ships are not inspected each time they visit foreign ports, though port authorities have several guidelines for how often they should carry out inspections.

Maritime Insight’s guide to Port State Control (PSC) inspections outlines that ships should be inspected after 12 month periods of absence from a port, though other factors can also trigger further scrutiny.

But even though inspection records do