Malaysia detains Chinese barge on suspicion of looting WWII British warship wrecks

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s maritime company stated Monday it discovered a cannon shell believed to be from World War II on a Chinese-registered vessel and was once investigating if the barge service was once concerned within the looting of two British warship wrecks within the South China Sea.

Malaysian media reported that unlawful salvage operators had been believed to have centered the HMS Repulse and the HMS Prince of Wales, which have been sunk in 1941 by means of Japanese torpedoes, days after the assault on Pearl Harbor.

A complete of 842 sailors perished, and the shipwrecks off the coast of central Pahang state are designated warfare graves. Fishermen and divers alerted government after recognizing a international vessel close to the realm remaining month.

The company stated it detained the vessel registered in Fuzhou, China, on Sunday for anchoring and not using a allow off southern Johor state. It stated there have been 32 group participants aboard, together with 21 Chinese, 10 from Bangladesh and a Malaysian.

The company stated officers from the National Heritage Department and others will paintings in combination to spot the cannon shell.

Britain’s National Museum of the Royal Navy remaining week stated it was once “distressed and concerned at the apparent vandalism for personal profit.”

The maritime company stated it believed the rusty cannon shell was once related to the police seizure of dozens of unexploded artillery and different relics at a personal scrapyard in Johor. The New Straits Times newspaper reported that the ammunitions had been believed to be from the warships and that police carried out an on-site managed explosion of the guns.

Pictures and a video launched by means of the company confirmed a barge service with a big crane and tons of rusty steel on board. Known as pre-war metal, the fabric from the 2 warships is effective and might be smelted to be used in production of some medical and scientific apparatus.

It was once no longer the primary time that the 2 shipwrecks had been centered.

The New Straits Times reported that international treasure hunters used do-it-yourself explosives in 2015 to detonate the heavy metal plates on the ships for simple pickings. Other media stated government detained a Vietnamese vessel concerned within the looting of the wreckage on the time.