WISE HONEST

scrapped

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Course/Position

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arrived Chittagong Anchorage

arrived Chittagong Anchorage as Dead Vessel 22.11.19

United States won a federal court battle on Oct 21 to take ownership of the "Wise Honest"

The United States won a federal court battle on Oct 21 to take ownership of the "Wise Honest" which had been seized for violating U.N. economic sanctions. It was the first time the United States has taken possession of a North Korean ship for violating international sanctions- North Korea's second-largest ship for carrying bulk cargo was on its way to American Samoa when it was stopped in Indonesia in April 2018. Indonesian authorities found it to be carrying coal, which the United States said violated U.N. sanctions. The United States soon filed an action to seize the ship, and Indonesia transferred it to U.S. marshals in April 2019. The United States filed a civil forfeiture complaint to take ownership of the "Wise Honest" in May. In July, two federal judges, one in New York and one in Washington, ordered that it be sold to pay for court judgments won by the families of two victims of North Korean torture — Otto Warmbier, the U.S. college student who died in 2017 following 17 months of torture, and the Rev. Dong Shik Kim, whom North Korea tortured before executing in 2000. In an order published on Oct 21 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Judge P. Kevin Castel said both families had resolved their claims to speed the forfeiture of the ship. John Demers, the assistant attorney general for national security, said that the forfeiture "sinks the Wise Honest's career as one of North Korea's largest sanctions-busting vessels." The Justice Department said in a court filing that the Coast Guard has already sold the ship, without disclosing the buyer. Neither prosecutors nor the judgment addressed how much money the Warmbier and Kim families could collect from the sale.

Seized ship sold for demolition

The controversial "Wose Honest", which had been arrested in Indonesia for violating UN sanctions against North Korea and was hauled to American Samoa’s Pago Pago harbour four months ago, has been sold for scrap metal start of October 2019. The ship was towed away for demolition by a tug on Oct 7. The captain of the port, in conjunction with interagency partners and port authorities, made appropriate preparations for the arrival and sustainment of the vessel in Pago Pago. At various times over the five months, the Coast Guard conducted safety and security patrols in and around the ship with teams from Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team Honolulu, Sector Honolulu, Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Gerczak (WPC 1126), Coast Guard Cutter Walnut (WLB 205), and the Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment in American Samoa.