A small Chinese floating crane participated in a likely ship-to-ship transfer involving a recently christened North Korean cargo ship last week, according to NK Pro analysis, as ship activity surges outside the DPRK’s largest port.

Geolocation data from Fleetmon and Beijing’s Maritime Safety Administration (CMSA) shows that at least four China-flagged vessels congregated near North Korean ships west of Nampho from June 13, a pattern suggestive of illicit ship-to-ship transfers to circumvent international sanctions on Pyongyang.

In the most flagrant case, satellite imagery captured what appeared to be the China-flagged Jiang Shen Fu 6988 right