Malaysia detains Chinese ship suspected of looting British WWII wrecks

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s Maritime Surveillance Agency said Monday it had found a cannon shell believed to be from World War II on a Chinese-flagged ship and was investigating whether the cargo ship had participated in the looting. of two British wrecks from the war in the South China Sea.

Illegal sea salvage teams are believed to have operated on the wreckage of HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales, sunk in 1941 by Japanese torpedoes days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Malaysian media reported.

A total of 842 sailors died in the wreck and the wrecks are designated as underwater graves. Fishermen and divers alerted authorities after reporting a foreign ship in the area last month.

The agency said it had detained the ship registered in Fuzhou, China, on Sunday for anchoring without permission near the southern Malaysian state of Johor. She had 32 crew members on board, including 21 Chinese, 10 Bangladeshi and one Malaysian.

Officials from the National Heritage Department and other authorities will collaborate to identify the cannon projectile, the agency said.

The British National Marine Museum said last week it was “appalled and concerned by the apparent vandalism for personal gain.”

The maritime agency said it believed the rusty shell was linked to the police seizure of dozens of unexploded artillery shells and other debris at a private junkyard in Johor. The ammunition is believed to have come from the two warships, and police carried out a controlled explosion of the weapons, according to The New Straits Times.

Images and videos released by the maritime agency showed a huge freighter with a large crane and lots of rusty metal on board. The material from the two ships, which falls under the category of prewar steel, is valuable and could be melted down for use in the manufacture of medical and scientific equipment.