Chinese-registered ship detained on suspicion of looting wreckages of British warships

A Chinese-registered vessel has been detained in Malaysia, on suspicion of looting the wreckage of Second World War-era British warships within the South China Sea.

Malaysia’s maritime company mentioned a cannon shell had been discovered on-board the service ship.

Local media reported unlawful salvage operators are believed to have focused the HMS Repulse and the HMS Prince of Wales – each of which have been sunk in 1941 by Japanese torpedoes.

More than 840 sailors died within the assaults, with the shipwrecks designated as conflict graves.

The authorities have been alerted final month, when fishermen and divers noticed a international vessel within the space, and detained the ship, which is registered in Fuzhou, China, on Sunday, for anchoring with no allow.

According to the Malaysian maritime company, 32 crew members have been on board – 21 from China, 10 from Bangladesh and one from Malaysia.

Officials from the National Heritage Department are actually working to determine the cannon shell, which is believed to be linked to the police seizure of dozens of unexploded artillery at a non-public scrapyard in Johor, in southern Malaysia.

The UK’s National Museum of the Royal Navy mentioned final week it was “distressed and concerned at the apparent vandalism for personal profit”.

An image launched by the Malaysian maritime company confirmed a barge service that was carrying a big crane and piles of rusty metallic.

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The metallic in query, generally known as pre-war metal, is taken into account beneficial and might be smelted down to be used in manufacturing.

This shouldn’t be the primary time the 2 sunken warships have been focused.

In 2015, the New Straits Times mentioned treasure hunters used do-it-yourself explosives to detonate the heavy metal plates on the ships, in order that they might be accessed extra simply.