North Korean vessel suspected to be shipping coal seized by US

In an unusual civil forfeiture action, the Justice Department announced on Thursday it has seized a major cargo vessel belonging to North Korea known as "Wise Honest", which officials allege violated sanctions by illicitly shipping coal from North Korea.

The ship, which was first confiscated by other foreign maritime authorities in April 2018, is now in the possession of the United States and is currently approaching U.S. territorial waters, a Justice Department official said.