UN sanctions

The council voted 15-0 to back the US-drafted sanctions resolution banning exports of coal, lead and seafood.

Pyongyang has claimed to have developed a hydrogen bomb and has continuously threatened to strike the US.

North Korea is already under UN sanctions to force the leadership to curtail its weapons programmes.

The new sanctions were agreed on Monday after the US removed some of the tougher proposals it had announced last week, including a complete oil embargo and measures to freeze the assets of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The vessel, called the Mangyongbong, will sail once a week to the port city and will also carry cargo. North Korea is under wide-ranging UN sanctions.

The ferry service comes amid heightened tension between North Korea and the US over Pyongyang's missile tests and efforts to develop a nuclear arsenal.

A Chinese tour operator sent some staff on the inaugural voyage.

The ferry has a restaurant, bars and a karaoke room. Chinese tourists are expected to use the service to visit communist North Korea and Russia.