Australia’s Monitoring and Surveillance Activities Against Illegal Ship-to-Ship Transfers

Australia has decided again to engage in its monitoring and surveillance activities by aircraft for the third time last year against the illicit maritime activities, including ship-to-ship transfers with North Korean-flagged vessels prohibited by the United Nations Security Council Resolutions(UNSCRs), based in Kadena Air Base from the beginning of December, subject to the United Nations Status of Forces Agreement (UN SOFA).

(Reference) Australia and Canada had conducted monitoring and surveillance activities by aircraft based in Kadena Air Base for about one month from the end of April last year, and Australia, Canada, and New Zealand also had done the activities for about one and a half months from last mid-September.

Japan welcomes these activities from the view point of ensuring effective implementation of the relevant UNSCRs while maintaining the solidarity of international community for the realization of North Korea’s dismantlement of all weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles of all ranges in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner.

As for the Ministry of Defense (MOD) and the Self-Defense Forces (SDF), the Maritime Self Defense Forces (MSDF) are conducting information-gathering activities for vessels suspected to be in violation of UNSCRs, and will cooperate closely with related countries.