The US and its allies have been tracking the suspected "proliferator" ever since the ship left North Korea on Wednesday.
The USS John McMcCain, a navy destroyer is tracking a North Korean ship suspected to be carrying weapons and missile parts as part of efforts to enforce UN sanctions against North Korea, a US defence official told reporters.
The US and its allies have been tracking the suspected "proliferator" ever since the ship left North Korea on Wednesday and the UN authorised the world's navies to enforce compliance with sanctions aimed at punishing North Korea for its recent nuclear test.
North Korea has said that any attempt to board its ships at sea would be viewed as an act of war and promised "100 or 1,000-fold" retaliation. US officials have not said if or when they might ask to search the Korean ship. In any case, the North Koreans are expected to reject any such request. But at some point, the ship will need to stop for refueling.
At that point, the country where the ship enters port is obliged under the UN resolution to search the vessel if there are grounds for suspicion. Fox News reported that the US military may request the host country not provide fuel to the ship when it enters its port. North Korean merchant ships usually need fuel as they approach Singapore and the ports of eastern India.
"When tipped off, Indian port authorities are stringent enforcers of UN sanctions against ships carrying contraband. The US Navy does not need to enforce the sanctions. Instead, it could "poison the host," a move that entails working behind the scenes with Indian Ocean port authorities to inspect and confiscate illegal cargos," said the US news channel.
This move worked last year when US officials warned Indian officials in advance of a North Korean transport aircraft that had requested permission to fly through Indian airspace on the way to Iran after stopping in Burma to refuel. New Delhi refused to allow the aircraft to fly through Indian airspace. The aircraft reportedly was carrying gyroscopes for ballistic missiles. The Kang Nam is known to be a ship that has been involved in proliferation activities in the past. "North Korea does not export anything other than weapons," a US official told FOX News.
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