Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City. A port operations manager in Tuxpan, Mexico said 13 remaining North Koreans of the ship Mu Du Bong were sent home on Wednesday. Photo by Moreno Novello/Shutterstock

MEXICO CITY, July 17 (UPI) -- All 33 North Koreans on board a ship that had drifted into a coral reef near Mexico have been repatriated after a year of custody.

Mexico media outlet E-veracruz reported Friday a port operations manager in Tuxpan, Veracruz said 13 remaining North Koreans were sent home on Wednesday.


33 North Korean nationals were on board the Mu Du Bong when the ship had fallen off its designated sea route, and 20 detainees were released earlier this year, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

Two members of the North Korean embassy in Mexico had visited the port city to urge the release of the remaining 13 on Tuesday.

The 6,700-ton Mu Du Bong had left from a Cuban port in July 2014 before it was stranded on the reef 9 miles from Tuxpan.

Mexico had detained the ship's personnel because the two countries were in disagreement over the ownership of the Mu Du Bong.

Mexico had said the ship belonged to North Korea's Ocean Maritime Management, a firm blacklisted by the U.N.'s North Korea sanctions committee for engaging in illicit arms trades in the past.

In response, North Korea's top envoy to the U.N. denied any links between the Mu Du Bong and the blacklisted company.