Proliferation Security Initiative - Interdictions and Events

Interdictions and Events

• In September 2003, Germany obtained information that the BBC China, an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged vessel, was transporting nuclear-related materials to Libya as on behalf of the Abdul Qadeer Khan proliferation network. The German government dispatched intelligence experts to Italy, who conducted an inspection of the ship in the Mediterranean with the support of the US Navy. The inspection revealed that the ship's container number was fabricated and the German government confiscated the nuclear-related equipment (aluminum tubes that can be converted into centrifuges). Although some sources cite this interdiction as an early success of the PSI, others dispute the initiative's relationship to this event.

• In an embarrassing "failure" of the PSI, in April 2005 Germany authorized the export of a high-tech crane aboard the vessel Hual Africa that could be utilized in Iran's Shahab-4 missile program.

• In June 2009, the North Korean vessel Kang Nam believed to be headed to Myanmar turned around after being tracked by the US Navy. In the same timeframe, two Japanese and one Korean man were arrested for trying to import WMD technology to Myanmar. After this incident, North Korea claimed that it would engage in military action in retaliation for any searching of its ships.

• On September 22, 2009, South Korea seized North Korean containers transiting the port of Busan which contained protective clothing used to protect against chemical weapons.

• In December 2009, Thailand (which has not endorsed the PSI) stopped a North Korean shipment of mixed conventional arms and missile technology, based on information from US intelligence, which had been tracking the shipment since it departed Pyongyang. The ultimate planned destination of the materials was not determined, but it was thought to be heading towards Iran (to eventually arm Hezbollah or Hamas) or potentially Pakistan. Months later, in February 2010 South Africa ordered the return of a shipment of North Korean military equipment to the port of Durban, ostensibly declared as heading to the Congo Republic.

• In June 2011, the New York Times reported on the turning around of the Belize-flagged North Korean Vessel MV Light, suspected of transporting missile technology to Myanmar. The USS McCampbell intercepted the ship and requested boarding, which was refused by the vessel operator despite the granting of authority from Belize, consistent with the US-Belize ship boarding agreement (see History above). The failure of the North Korean crew to comply with the orders of its flag arguably made it a "stateless" vessel under international maritime law, however the ship was allowed to return to North Korea. Although the materials were not "interdicted" or even inspected to verify a violation, the fact that the commodity never reached its planned target arguably made it a "success" for PSI.