On a cloudy day in May 2020, a satellite captures this image over the sea near Taiwan. At first it just seems to show clouds, until you look more closely and enhance the image. What you see here is a transfer of oil to a ship that will end up in North Korea in a possible violation of international sanctions. Secret oil deliveries are crucial to North Korea’s economy and its ballistic and nuclear weapons program. Our investigation focuses on a way for oil to reach North Korea. We follow the movements of a single oil tanker and the opaque corporate structures that surround it. We spent months unraveling the history of the ship. It is called Diamond 8 and has been identified by the United Nations several times for its illicit trips to North Korea. We visited companies, ports and tankers tracked at sea, all to find out who was behind these trips. What we found were elaborate networks, many of which connect with Singapore-based oil trader Winson Group, mainly through its Taiwan operation Winson Shipping. “Meeting your needs. Winson Group. ”Our investigation, which includes findings from a new report by the research groups RUSI and C4ADS, reveals for the first time how the Winson Group plays a role in North Korea’s bid for oil. The path of a single tanker to the Kim Jong-un regime is complicated. When we put everything in a flowchart, it looks like this – so let’s simplify it by focusing on Diamond 8. And we’ll also see two tankers that carry oil for it – Ever Grandeur and Superstar. These ships are connected by more than just their encounters at sea. They have ties to a handful of people who on the surface seem disconnected, but when we look more deeply, we find that most of the key individuals are connected to the same village in the Chinese province of Fujian. And they all have connections with Winson Shipping and the Winson Group. Let’s look first at how oil gets to North Korea. We analyzed previous photos and videos from Diamond 8, compared them with satellite images and took measurements to create a visual fingerprint. This allowed us to follow the movements of Diamond 8 last year. We confirmed our findings with experts who track tankers in North Korean ports. We are going to show you two of your trips to North Korea. The first, in February 2020, starts here, idle in the waters of Fujian province, a region where oil smuggling has historically been rampant. He leaves and collects oil from Ever Grandeur near Taiwan and goes straight to North Korea. This trip is very direct. The one we discovered in May 2020, not so much. But here’s what we know. Diamond 8 goes down the coast of Taiwan. It passes through a port on April 30, where a second, much larger red tanker is carrying oil. This tanker, then called the Superstar, follows the Diamond 8 for international waters, according to the ship’s transmissions. The cloudy sky that day seems to protect the operation of the satellites, but as we have seen, a hole in the clouds reveals the transfer of oil. For three weeks, Diamond 8 does not enter any door. It is mainly only taken in open waters. Then he sails north. Its necessary transmission signal disappears for eight days, but we found it during that window at this port in North Korea. The dimensions and characteristics correspond to Diamond 8, a discovery confirmed by experts. When we locate him again, his signal is back and is back near Taiwan, meeting with the Superstar to get more oil. We wanted to know who was behind Ever Grandeur and Superstar, the two ships that supplied the oil for Diamond 8, so we looked at the shipping records to examine their history and management. Let’s start with Ever Grandeur. In fact, we shot it while idle at the port of Kaohsiung in Taiwan. Just five miles away is the company that controls the ship. It’s called Glory Sparkling. Chien Yuan Ju, an executive at Winson Shipping, told us that he did not set up Glory Sparkling. But we find clues that companies are interconnected. Glory Sparkling’s address was on floors owned by Winson Shipping. Your address changed only after we started asking questions. And the Glory Sparkling website was registered with the name of a Winson Shipping employee. We also have evidence that a senior manager at Winson Shipping named Zuo Fasheng, seen here with Winson Group founder Tony Tung, also worked for Glory Sparkling. We found your signature on documents from both companies, including Ever Grandeur’s paperwork. Panama officials, where Ever Grandeur is registered, told us that their records show that Zuo Fasheng is currently listed as the operator of the ship. Now let’s take a closer look at the Superstar, the second ship that supplies oil for the Diamond 8. It’s actually a lot simpler. Winson Shipping is the owner and they confirmed the transfer from May 2020 to us, but they told us that the ship was rented to someone else when the operation took place. But they didn’t say who. Together, these details indicate how Winson Shipping is connected to the two ships that supplied Diamond 8 with oil, even after the ship was publicly disclosed by the UN for illegally delivering oil to North Korea. So, let’s take a look at Diamond 8 itself. Winson Shipping was actually the owner until 2016. And from then until 2018, all companies linked to it listed their addresses and offices as owned by Winson Shipping. When we spoke to the shipment manager, he said that Winson Shipping sold the ship years ago, but also made a bold statement: it is “ten thousand percent impossible” that it went to North Korea. This is not true. Our investigation and UN reports show that Diamond 8 has been to North Korea at least four times since the end of 2019. So finding out exactly who is behind Diamond 8 is neither easy nor simple. To learn more, we had to look at Indonesia. The registered owner of the ship is Tan Jeok Nam, a 62-year-old retiree who lives here in a modest neighborhood. He told us that he was simply a sailor who had no money to buy the $ 1.4 million ship. Something clearly does not match. So we set out to find out who sold him the ship – at least on paper. When we analyze the invoice, we realize that the seller seems to be the daughter of businessman Tsoi Ming Chi, from Hong Kong. Tsoi is also linked to the company that manages Diamond 8. When we visited this company in Indonesia, there was no sign of a shipping business. It’s another dead end. So, back to the retired Indonesian sailor, Tan. There is one more thing that you need to know about it. In fact, he used to work on oil tankers. One of the tankers belonged to a Hong Kong company owned by the late Wong Tin Chuk. Wong, Tsoi – these two entrepreneurs have something more in common. Both have ties to the Winson companies, including through leased offices, mortgages, and have exchanged ships with each other, according to a report by research groups RUSI and C4ADS. And there is a personal connection as well. Wong and Tsoi are linked to the founder of the Winson Group, Tony Tung, through the same village in China’s Fujian region, with 2,600 inhabitants. In fact, all three belonged to the village’s hometown club and the alumni association of the same high school. Two of them have been accused of smuggling in the past. Take Tony Tung, for example. He faced several investigations of smuggling and bribery. His only conviction was later overturned. Shortly after founding the Winson Group in the 1990s, Tung and his brothers were accused of smuggling cigarettes and oil into China, according to court documents and state media. One of Tung’s brothers was sentenced to life in prison. He served three years and was later forgiven. At the time of the trial, Tung had already left China. For the past five years, Tung has left executive positions at the Winson Group and handed the reins to his daughter, Crystal Tung. In a statement to The Times, she said: “The allegations against the Winson Group are unfounded and untrue. The Winson Group has not taken any action that violates the applicable sanctions against North Korea or any sanctioned countries. ”After The Times asked questions about the company’s involvement in oil deliveries to North Korea, Winson Shipping Taiwan changed its name to Zheng Yu Shipping. Chien Yuan Ju, the executive who spoke to The Times, was also replaced as the company’s official representative. The mysterious retired sailor, the oil trader, the maze of companies – taken together, they expose an elaborate system that hides the way oil is reaching North Korea, despite some of the strongest sanctions in history, and how Kim Jong-un continues to challenge the international community. Diamond 8 is back in Fujian, China, awaiting its next orders. Its operators are now using a new trick: transmitting a fake ship name to hide their true identity. “Hey, this is Christoph, one of the reporters in this story. We spent months investigating who is supplying oil to an oil tanker who is delivering oil to North Korea. We saw a lot of satellite images, reviewed corporate records and interviewed important players. It was a great team effort involving reporters in four countries. What you just saw is just a small part of our report, and you can find more details at nytimes.com/visualinvestigations. If you have any other information about this story, we would love to hear from you. And, of course, if you like what you’re seeing, subscribe to The New York Times. Thanks.”
