Jie Shun

Jie Shun was registered in Cambodia, which served as a flag of convenience, and routinely disabled her transponder, in order to avoid drawing attention.^[1][2] In 2014, the vessel was reportedly owned by company owned by Chinese nationals Sun Sidong, also the majority shareholder of Dandong Dongyuan Industrial.^[3][4]

Jie Shun left Haeju, North Korea on July 23, 2016, with a crew of twenty-three, including a political commissar.^[1] In August 2016, Jie Shun was detained by Egyptian authorities in Egyptian waters before transiting the Suez Canal, acting on information provided by the United States intelligence community. Jie Shun was found to be transporting iron ore and 30,000^[5] RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenades, in violation of United Nations sanctions.^[3][1] A UN investigation subsequently found that North Korea had been attempting to traffic prohibited military hardware to the Egyptian Armed Forces.^[1] The value of the shipment was estimated at US$23 million.^[1][6][7]