Washington DC - The US on Wednesday announced that it will call for UN sanctions against vessels transporting North Korean coal and iron ore to ports in China.

US officials claim that the vessels are circumventing UN resolutions by making the journeys without being flagged as North Korean ships.

The Open Source Center (OSC) issued a report on Wednesday revealing that it had tracked "at least six foreign-flagged vessels loading coal and iron ore in North Korean ports and exporting their cargo abroad" to China.

"Sanctions unanimously adopted by the UNSC in 2016 and 2017 explicitly prohibit the import of these commodities from North Korea, the revenue from which is funnelled to the country's nuclear and ballistic missile programs."

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OSC's director James Byrne presented evidence at a meeting of the UN Security Council, identifying specific ships that are accused of defying the 2017 sanctions.

Byrne said that some of the ships involved use "spoofing" techniques to disguise their origin from observation. This includes transmitting digital signals that indicate they come from a different country.

In response, US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Camille Shea revealed an intention to sanction the vessels identified by OSC.

"In the coming days, we plan to nominate for designation in the 1718 Committee vessels clearly identified in the briefing to which Mr. Byrne referred for violations of U.N. sanctions restrictions," Shea said.

Shea shifted blame to Beijing, who she accused of "looking the other way" and allowing Chinese companies to import North Korean coal and iron ore. China pushed back in response, calling her comments "accusations and smearing."