The Voice of America said Tuesday that a passenger ship service linking North Korea and Russia was recently suspended.
 
The report said the suspension comes less than four months after the North’s “Mangyongbong” launched services to transport passengers between Rajin Port and the Port of Vladivostok on May 18th.
 
Japan’s Kyodo News quoted InvestStroiTrest, the Russian operator of the Mangyongbong, as saying that authorities at the Port of Vladivostok denied the boat's entry in August after the shipping firm failed to pay 17-thousand dollars in docking fees.
 
The director general of the Russian operator Vladimir Baranov said there was an incident where passengers suffered inconveniences after they were trapped in the Mangyongbong for hours when port authorities denied the boat’s entry.
 
The Mangyongbong had been operating between North Korea and Russia once a week. The boat failed to secure target profits with far less passengers and cargo being transported than initial expectations.
 
Russia’s Interfax news agency said that only some 370 passengers had used the ship service so far. The boat can carry up to 200 passengers and 15-hundred tons of cargo.