A non-descript, 6000-tonne freighter reappeared on international tracking systems at the start of July after a ten-month absence, headed north from the vicinity of a small port near the border between China and Vietnam.

It informed the tracking systems its final destination was “open seas” before disappearing again around a week later somewhere between the Chinese coast and southern tip of the Korean peninsula.

Apart from the sporadic signaling, the journey and the freighter appear unremarkable, but the Fijian-flagged cargo ship bears the unusual dishonor of being the only DPRK-related ship to be sanctioned by