New Zealand deploys largest navy ship to monitor North Korean maritime smuggling

Operation near Japan follows dispatch of a patrol aircraft to support DPRK sanctions enforcement earlier this month

Jooheon Kim November 19, 2025 PRINT

The HMNZS Aotearoa | Image: Japan’s defense ministry

The Royal New Zealand navy deployed its largest ship to northeast Asia this month to watch for North Korean violations of U.N. sanctions, according to Japan’s foreign affairs ministry Tuesday.

The HMNZS Aotearoa carried out surveillance operations in “in waters surrounding Japan” from early to mid-November, the ministry said in a press release.

Japan welcomed the vessel’s deployment as part of international efforts to implement U.N. Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs) against North Korea.

“As Japan has also been conducting information gathering activities for vessels suspected of violating the UNSCRs, Japan works closely with relevant countries and international organizations, including New Zealand,” the release said. 

In Aug. 2024, the 26,000-ton tanker and sustainment ship patrolled the area to monitor the DPRK’s ship-to-ship transfers in violation of U.N. sanctions for the first time, after its visit to Japan’s Yokosuka Naval Base south of Tokyo.

Earlier this month, Wellington deployed a patrol aircraft to operate out of Japan’s Kadena Air Base, marking the eighth time the aircraft has participated in operations against North Korea’s illegal maritime activities since 2018.

Canada has also sent patrol ships and aircraft to monitor DPRK sanctions evasion from Japan on multiple occassions in recent months.

Pyongyang is widely suspected of exporting coal in defiance of the sanctions and relying on illicit maritime smuggling to obtain oil beyond U.N.-imposed limits. The regime is also accused by the U.S. and other countries of using sanctioned vessels to supply weapons and troops to Russia.

Ship-to-ship transfers by the DPRK have been prohibited under Resolution 2375 since Sept. 2017.

The following year, countries including the U.K., Canada, Australia, France, Germany and Italy have regularly deployed aircraft and vessels to curb the DPRK’s illicit maritime activity.

North Korea officially rejects the international sanctions and condemns them as a U.S.-driven attempt to infringe on its sovereignty. 

In the past, findings from these monitoring missions were included in U.N. Panel of Experts reports on DPRK sanctions violations and were reported to the U.N.’s Enforcement Coordination Cell overseeing the sanctions.

However, since Russia vetoed the Panel’s mandate last year, these results have not been publicly revealed, and maritime surveillance findings have also been absent from the first two reports of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team established to replace the Panel.

Edited by David Choi

Foreign RelationsSanctions

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