And this is where we lose its trail.
By 2023, New Konk was already an ancient ship. In the back half of the year, we know it broke down and was moored in North Korean waters waiting for repairs.
We don’t know if it was ever able to sail again.
Most of North Korea’s shadow ships are so old and poorly maintained they eventually fade away. The only trace they ever existed is an AIS identity.
The last AIS location broadcast for New Konk was in June 2025 in the South China Sea. But it was almost certainly not our ship, it was likely another ship spoofing, using its IMO number and a fraudulent MMSI.
Targeting a shadowy industry
Cracking down on shadow fleets is as difficult as tracking them.
The companies buying and selling goods to North Korea can be targeted by the UN. The challenge is identifying the true culprits or the countries behind them.
It’s also politically fraught. China can block any UN sanctions on Chinese companies with its permanent seat on the Security Council. Indian and Chinese companies are the primary buyers of Russian oil, and sanctioning them would risk worsening tensions with both countries.
Under UN sanctions, states are required to stop North Korean ships from conducting oil transfers in their exclusive economic zones, but China often turns a blind eye to this.
Countries are also legally obligated to stop North Korean shadow fleet ships from docking in their shipyards or ports. But identity laundering offers plausible deniability.
Some countries have resorted to force. US military vessels have stopped and boarded Russian-linked ships transporting oil from Venezuela. European and British naval vessels have recently done the same.
The reality is no country can police the world’s oceans by itself.
We’re trying to make it a bit easier though. We’re building a database of these ships’ movements on a supercomputer and using machine learning to detect patterns that could indicate when vessels are in a suspected shadow fleet.
It’s a giant game of cat-and-mouse, with North Korea, Russia and others devising increasingly sophisticated ways to hide their ships, daring other nations to stop them.
The enforcers will always be a step behind.