Red Passage

Russian-DPRK munition carrier seeks to transit the Suez

James Byrne, Joe Byrne, Alessio Armenzoni, Hamish Macdonald
18 February 2025

On the morning of 17 February 2025, the Maia-1, a sanctioned Russian vessel involved in ferrying North Korean munitions to Russia, arrived at the South Anchorage of the Suez Canal likely seeking to reach the Mediterranean Sea.

The vessel’s voyage marks the first time that one of Russia’s DPRK munitions carriers has sailed out of East Asian waters and ventured further afield, potentially putting the vessel at risk of Western interdiction.

However, the Maia-1’s unencumbered passage through Chinese, Vietnamese and, potentially now Egyptian ports, calls into question the efficacy and willingness of international partners to enforce sanctions levied against both Russia and North Korea.

_{Source: Geollect, Open Source Centre.}

_{Source: Geollect, Open Source Centre.}

Analysis by the Open Source Centre (OSC) indicates the vessel is one of four Russian cargo ships engaged in moving tens of thousands of containers from North Korea to the Russian Far East since August 2023, establishing an artillery supply chain that has fundamentally altered the course of the war in Ukraine and redrawn the geopolitical map in East Asia.

Owned and operated by the sanctioned company MG-Flot, the Maia-1 began moving North Korean munitions in October 2023, completing at least nine trips over the course of 2023 and 2024.

_{Source: Open Source Centre.}

_{Source: Open Source Centre.}

Using satellite imagery and additional open source data, the OSC assesses that the Maia-1 has delivered approximately 2,000 containers of munitions from the North Korean port of Rajin to the Russian port of Vostochny during that period.

_{Source: Planet Labs, Airbus Defence and Space, Open Source Centre.}

In addition to the imposition of sanctions, a coalition of Western countries, including the US, UK, EU, Ukraine, Japan, Republic of Korea, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have repeatedly condemned the Russia-DPRK military cooperation. In a joint statement on 16 December 2024, it also noted that the North Korean export of military materiel to Russia represented flagrant violations of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The coalition also voiced concerns regarding the “support that Russia may be providing to the DPRK’s illegal weapons programs, including weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery” and encouraged the international community to “act in concert, including through imposition of economic sanctions, to respond to the danger posed by the DPRK-Russia partnership”.

That the Maia-1, a participant in the violations of UN Security Council resolutions, is able to sail globally with impunity represents a significant challenge to longstanding non-proliferation efforts as well as the international will to enforce Western sanctions.

_{Source: Geollect, Planet Labs, Maxar Technologies, Open Source Centre.}

MAIA-1’s Western Voyage

On 11 January 2025, despite sanctions against the ship and its operator, the Maia-1 sailed along the Yangtze River in China, docking at the port of Daxin, Zhangjiagang where it remained for several days.

The port is operated by Zhangjiagang Gangxin Heavy Equipment Port Co Ltd (张家港港新重装码头港务有限公司), an entity ultimately owned by the Zhangjiagang City Government. The port operator’s website states the company is involved in supporting China’s Belt and Road Initiative and counts several large Chinese State-owned Enterprises as customers. Notably, this port was also used to transship an LNG module from the Chinese company Wison New Energies in Zhoushan to Russia’s Novatek for its sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project in September 2024.

High-resolution satellite imagery taken on 15 January 2025 shows the Maia-1 laden with cargo covered under tarpaulins, likely after loading at the terminal.

_{Source: Maxar Technologies, Open Source Centre.}

_{Source: Maxar Technologies, Open Source Centre.}

The vessel departed without reporting its destination and sailed southwest, anchoring off the coast of Vũng Tàu, Vietnam on 23 January 2025. Despite being sanctioned, port records show that the vessel was granted port clearance and managed to retain the services of a Vietnamese shipping agent for this purpose. Port records also reveal that the Maia-1 is carrying 18 crew members and lists its final destination as the port of Ust-Luga in Russia, approximately 110km from St. Petersburg.

_{Source: Vietnam Maritime Administration, Open Source Centre.}

_{Source: Vietnam Maritime Administration, Open Source Centre.}

The Maia-1 then departed Vietnamese waters on 24 January 2025 and sailed directly to the Red Sea, where it arrived on 11 February 2025, making its way towards the Suez Canal over the course of the subsequent week.

On 17 February 2025, the vessel entered the Suez South Anchorage and joined the queue of vessels seeking to pass through the canal. To do so, the sanctioned vessel will be required to pay transit fees, with information present on the Suez Canal Authority website indicating that it does not accept payment in rubles.

Network Military Connections

In addition to the Maia-1, MG-Flot’s vessels have also been involved in the transfer of goods in support of the Russian military.

Two other US-designated MG-Flot ships - named the Port Olya 3 and 4 - have been accused of ferrying various munitions from Iran to Russia since February 2022, including ballistic missiles. In March 2023, the MG-Flot’s Rasul Gazmatov was also alleged to have shipped 2,000 artillery shells from Iran to Russia.

_{Source: S&P Global, US Department of Treasury, Open Source Centre.}

_{Source: S&P Global, US Department of Treasury, Open Source Centre.}

More recently, satellite imagery captured on 1 February 2025 shows the MG-Flot-owned Baltic Leader docked at the Russian naval base at Tartus Syria, ostensibly to evacuate Russian military assets from the country following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024.

While the Maia-1 is the first vessel involved in the Russia-DPRK munitions trade to have voyaged outside of East Asia, another MG-Flot linked vessel - the Lady R - was also engaged in the transfer of shells to the Ukrainian front. The company transferred control and ownership of the Lady R to another entity in December 2024.

It was in December 2024 that the G7 countries in addition to Australia, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea condemned DPRK-Russia military cooperation carried out in part by these vessels and encouraged the international community to “act in concert” with sanctions.

However, the Maia-1’s ability to navigate foreign waters, ports, and pay clearance fees unimpeded, represents a direct challenge to that call for action and the sanctions that underpinned it.