The UK has deployed a third navy warship to the Asia-Pacific as diplomatic tensions with North Korea continue to rise.
HMS Albion will join HMS Sutherland and will help enforce UN sanctions against North Korea, as well as take part in joint training and exercises with regional allies.
The Ministry of Defence previously announced that HMS Argyll would also be deployed, arriving in the region later in the year to take part in an exercise with Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “Our Armed Forces are at the forefront of Global Britain, and the deployment of HMS Albion, Sutherland and Argyll demonstrates our unwavering commitment to our international responsibilities and to maintaining peace, security and prosperity in the region.
“Until North Korea matches its words with concrete actions, the UK will continue working closely with partners and allies to keep up pressure and strictly enforce existing sanctions, ensuring not only regional security but that of the UK as well.”
HMS Albion, alongside HMS Sutherland, will monitor prohibited sea trading by North Korea, which the Government believes provides a major source of funding for its illegal nuclear programme.
The deployment will mean the Royal Navy will have a vessel in the Asia-Pacific region for the first time since 2013, maintaining an almost constant presence there this year.
A UN Security Council resolution bans ship-to-ship transfers of goods destined for the North Korean capital Pyeongchang, but some vessels have broken the sanction.
In October last year, a Hong Kong-registered ship was seized by South Korea after it was suspected of transferring 600 tonnes of oil to a North Korean ship.
US president Donald Trump tweeted his disappointment at the incident, which he pinned on China.
In February, the US Treasury Department cited 50 ships for evading US and international sanctions against North Korea.
Mr Trump told reporters in the White House that if North Korea did not comply with the sanctions, that a “phase two” might be the next step.
“Phase two may be a very rough thing, may be very unfortunate for the world,” he said.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel