Hong Kong detains NKorean ship - report

HONG KONG, Oct 24 (Reuters) Hong Kong has detained a North Korean ship for suspected safety violations just days after the UN Security Council imposed new sanctions on Pyongyang, a Hong Kong newspaper reported today.

The 2,035-tonne general cargo ship -- the Kang Nam I -- arrived on Sunday from Shanghai and was due to head for Taiwan with a load of scrap metal today, the South China Morning Post reported.

The newspaper quoted Director of Marine Roger Tupper as saying this was the ninth North Korean ship to be inspected in Hong Kong this year. Six others had been detained, the last in mid-June.

South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper quoted a source in Hong Kong as saying Assistant US Secretary of State Christopher Hill visited the former British colony at the weekend to pass on intelligence about the ship and request that it be searched.

Marine department officials could not be reached for comment, and a government spokeswoman said she had no information about the ship.

REUTERS PDS RAI0709