North Korean-controlled vessels traversing the Nampho-Zhoushan coal smuggling route this summer are actively using at least eight false identities, an investigation by NK Pro reveals.

The false identities include AM, KH, KS1, MT, PK, TM, TR and Pu He, and speak to a wider trend of North Korean fleets using fake identifiers to avoid being tracked in Automated Identification System (AIS) data. However, these eight identities as a group constitute a recently-activated class of “throwaway” identities.

While North Korea previously co-opted the unique signifiers of other ships and has taken on their identities, this class