Update: North Korean Bulker Wise Honest Sold to Compensate Victims’ Families

The North Korean handysize bulk carrier Wise Honest has been sold in a sealed bid auction. The proceeds of the auction will go to compensate the family of Otto Warmbier, the American student who died in 2017 shortly after being released in a vegetative state by North Korea after being tortured for allegedly trying to steal a propaganda poster, as well as the family of the Rev. Dong Shik Kim, who was kidnapped, tortured and executed by North Korean agents in 2000.

The 580-foot, 17,601-ton single-hull bulk carrier was seized in April 2018 by Indonesian authorities for violating international sanctions. The ship was taken over by the US in May of 2019 and was towed to American Samoa. In July, it was sold under the orders of federal judges in New York and Washington.

How much the families will receive is unclear. In a statement, the US Marshals said that they “do not disclose winning bid amounts or the identity of buyers in our sealed bid auctions.”

The Samoa News reports that the 30-year-old bulker was sold for scrap. The Navy Times estimates that the scrap value of the ship might be at most $1.7 million before the cost of towing and other expenses.

Comments

Update: North Korean Bulker Wise Honest Sold to Compensate Victims’ Families — 5 Comments

  1. Jeremiah Blatz, THATS STRANGE!

    My NHK NEWS frim tody said the crew were transported to anorher N.K. ship in the area.

    N.K. demanded compensatiin frim Japan for sinking the ship.

    Japan is a long way from Indonesia!

    NHK WORLD
    Daily News
    6. Japan rejects
    compensation for
    N.Korean crew
    Chief Cabinet Secretary
    Yoshihide Suga has
    rejected North Korea’s
    demand for financial
    compensation following a
    collision between ships
    from the two countries in
    the Sea of Japan.

    A Japanese Fisheries
    Agency patrol vessel and
    a North Korean fishing
    boat collided in Japan’s
    exclusive economic zone
    off Ishikawa Prefecture
    on October 7. The North
    Korean boat sank but its
    crew was rescued by the
    agency’s vessel. The crew
    members were handed
    over to another North
    Korean ship.

    North Korea said on
    Saturday that the lives of
    the crew members were
    threatened. It demanded
    Japan pay damages and
    take measures to prevent
    a recurrence.

    Suga told reporters on
    Tuesday that Japan
    absolutely canno

  2. ALSO: Japan has video.
    nhk doesnt always keep their URLs active
    www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/daily/k/index6.html