Ninety North Korean Ships Granted Entry to Japan

Ninety North Korean vessels were granted certificates to enter Japanese ports in the eight months since a new law that bans entry of any ship without insurance took effect, according to a Daily Yomiuri report. The law on liability for oil pollution damage, which came into force on March 1, requires vessels of 100 tons or larger to be insured before docking in Japan. It had been viewed as a de facto economic sanction, as it was believed that most North Korean vessels would not fulfill the law's requirements and therefore would be unable to dock in Japan. But according to the report, some Liberal Democratic Party members recently said more North Korean vessels had insurance coverage than they had expected. Source: Daily Yomiuri