DIAMOND 8

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Tanker tied to North Korean oil smuggling spoofed scrapped vessel

The 'Diamond 8', implicated in several investigations into North Korean sanctions evasions has continued to fraudulently assume the identities of other vessels in a bid to dupe investigators. This time the vesssel tried to pass itself as a ship that had been in a Southeast Asian scrapyard for a year. Investigators spotted the 'Diamond 8' near the Fujian Province in June 2022, using a radio identifier linked to the Mongolia-flagged 'Shun Li' (IMO: 8514435), which arrived at the Alang Ship Breaking Yard in India in June 2021, where it has since been dismantled. Satellite imagery also showed the 'Diamond 8' just a kilometer or two from several other known ships suspected to have violated sanctions against North Korea, including the 'New Konk' (IMO: 9036387), 'Unica' (IMO: 8514306) and the 'Hai Jun' (IMO: 8514306). It wasn’t the first time the 'Diamond 8' has done just that: In May 2021, the ship broadcast over a radio identifier associated with the Mongolia-flagged C'hang Shun 8' (IMO: 8682969), also in Chinese waters. The 'Diamond 8' has not been spotted via ground-based stations since June 2021, indicating it has likely been engaged in “dark voyages” since then. And while the 'Shun Li' appears to have had no other connections to potential sanctions evasion activities during its lifetime, the upcoming U.N. report indicates that its MMSI number is linked to Kaohsiung-based firm You Young Ship Management and Consultant Co. Ltd., the same firm that was also behind two other recently scrapped oil tankers that helped smuggle oil into North Korea.

DIAMOND 8 9132612

On Nov 6th, 2010, the "Global Venus" was given an administrative penalty from the Xiamen Maritime Safety Administration for illegally discharging domestic sewage into the Xiamen sea area. The "Global Venus"’s domestic sewage disposal system failed to work functionally after repair and maintenance in a shipyard in Malaysia and it didn’t make repairs immediately after it docked in Dongdu Port, Xiamen. Its daily domestic sewage had been discharged into the sea without disposal, which contaminated the Xiamen sea area. The concerned party has admitted its fault and further treatment of the domestic sewage contamination is ongoing.