New Delhi, Oct. 4: The Indian Coast Guard detained a North Korean vessel for the second time in two months but gave the all-clear to the ship found anchored without permission off the Kerala coast today.

A spokesperson for the navy and the Coast Guard, Commander Roy Francis, said the Hyangro was found stationary in Indian waters when it was supposed to be sailing to Karachi, Pakistan. Coast Guard and naval personnel boarded the ship but found it was carrying no cargo.

The Hyangro was surrounded by two Coast Guard vessels and a naval warship after fishermen reported its presence to the authorities.

The captain of the ship told the investigators he had dropped anchor “because of technical problems in the ship’s tanks that were leaking”. The ship had last made port in Colombo. It is owned by the Pyongyang-based Sinhung Shipping Company.

A navy source in Delhi said later this evening that the crew of the Hyangro had been cleared after questioning. The entire crew of 44 was North Korean.

A UN resolution empowers member countries to inspect North Korean cargo being transported by sea, land or air.

In August, Indian authorities had detained another North Korean ship, the MV Mu San, in the Andaman islands. The vessel was carrying sugar bound for the port of Umm Qasr, Iraq. It was at first suspected to be carrying military equipment.

The UN resolution prohibits North Korea from importing or exporting arms.

But it transpired later that the management of the shipping company had asked the Mu San to loiter in Indian waters because they might get a better price for their cargo in India.