Russian Container Ships ANGARA and Lady R, Which Previously Transported Thousands of Weapons Containers, Started Sailing From the DPRK Again

Russian container ships, which previously delivered thousands of containers of ammunition to Russia, have begun to arrive at North Korean ports again.

According to Planet Labs satellite imagery released by NK Pro, the Lady R and Angara vessels arrived at the ports.

The container ships made three visits in November and two in October to the port of Rason, which is located near the border with Russia.

The Angara is implicated in the investigations as a vessel involved in the transportation of military cargo, including containers of ammunition.

Militarnyi, having analyzed the data on the loading capacity of each vessel, concluded that in total, they are capable of transporting 7,075 containers in five voyages:

• Angara – 632 containers per voyage
• Lady R – 783 containers per voyage

However, the number of containers that can be placed on the ship is limited by the ship’s cargo weight.

Angara is capable of taking on board up to 7331 tons of payload, while Lady R can carry up to 7630 tons.

According to Open Source Center analysts, in 2023-2024, 64 voyages from the DPRK to Russia were tracked over 20 months.

During this time, Russian vessels transported 15,809 containers of ammunition and weapons. These voyages were carried out by four container ships flying the Russian flag: Angara, Maria, Maia-1, and Lady R.

Thus, on average, one vessel per voyage transported approximately 247 containers. According to estimates, the total amount of ammunition to be delivered is between 4.2 and 5.8 million.

The vessels ANGARA and Lady R were sanctioned by Ukraine, the United States, and the European Union for such transportation.

Until December 2024, the LADY R was owned and operated by the sanctioned Russian shipping company MG-Flot LLC (formerly Transmorflot LLC), associated with Astrakhan businessman Pashayev Jamaldin Emirmagomedovich, who built his business around the Russian commercial port of Olya in the Astrakhan region.