Report: Chinese Cargo Ship Collided with North Korean Bulker Smuggling Coal

A media report is circulating today, March 13, in South Korea saying that a North Korean bulker smuggling coal was involved in a collision and sank last month. It is saying as many as 20 seafarers were lost but the Chinese failed to report the incident.

The South Korean news agency Yonhap released the report citing multiple unidentified sources. They were told the incident happened in February in the Yellow Sea. The area between the Korean peninsular and China is reported to be known as a “hot spot” for coal smuggling.

“The North Korean ship appears to be overly loaded with coal,” the report states. “The cargo and ship sank altogether,” the source told Yonhap, adding China does not appear to want the accident to be known as it probably connived in North Korea’s violation of the UN Security Council sanctions.

They are indicating that A Chinese ship collided with the North Korean ship possibly in heavy fog. The Chinese ship is reported to have suffered “minor damage,” while the North Korean vessel was lost. The Chinese attempted a rescue and recovered “a few people,” while the report says between 15 and 20 were lost.

It is impossible to independently verify the report. The news outlet NK News however attempted by scouring China’s Maritime Safety Administration notices. NK News reports the agency “lists an unidentified shipwreck in the Yellow Sea, about 80 km from Lianyungang, one of the known hotspots for coal smuggling.” The outlet also highlights a notice of a sunken vessel off the coast of Ningo-Zhoushan posted on February 17. It says the report omitted the name, flag, or type of vessel.

North Korea depends mostly on an aging fleet of ships although it did highlight building one new vessel in the past few years. There was another unreported incident in June 2024 in which South Korean intelligence said as many as 90 North Korean troops might have died when a transport was lost.