More than 50 personnel from allied countries will be hosted aboard the USS Blue Ridge, an American command ship stationed in Yokosuka, Japan. Special quarters, called the Enforcement Coordination Center, have been created on the ship for the operations. The coalition will include the U.K., Australia, New Zealand and Canada—the U.S.’s partners in the Five-Eyes intelligence alliance—as well as France, Japan and South Korea. Related Coalition countries are also contributing warships and military surveillance aircraft to better spot illicit shipments. The expanded surveillance also will permit more “bridge-to-bridge” communications between allied ships and suspected smuggling ships—known jokingly inside the military as having “scarlet letters” for their alleged misdeeds. Sanctions violators will no longer be able to plead ignorance, another military official said: “‘I didn’t know’ is no longer an excuse.” The new coalition isn’t necessarily a precursor to more aggressive interdictions, such as boarding suspected ships or forcing vessels […]