Chinese Ship Suspected of Plundering British WW2 Wrecks Detained in Malaysia

 

Malaysia has apprehended a Chinese-registered vessel on suspicion of looting two British World War Two shipwrecks. The illegal anchoring of the bulk carrier at the site in the South China Sea led to its seizure. Authorities subsequently discovered ammunition believed to be from the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, which were sunk over 80 years ago by Japanese forces, on board the ship.

The UK Ministry of Defence strongly condemned the alleged raid as a disrespectful act towards maritime war graves. The wrecks, located approximately 100km off the east coast of Malaysia, have been targeted for their rare low-background steel, known as "pre-war steel." This type of steel possesses low radiation levels and is highly valuable for applications in medical and scientific equipment.

The Royal Navy battleships were deployed to Singapore during the war to bolster the defence of Malaya but were torpedoed by the Japanese on December 10, 1941. This tragic incident, occurring just days after the attack on the US fleet in Pearl Harbor, claimed the lives of around 842 sailors and is regarded as one of the most devastating disasters in British naval history.

Local fishermen and divers had alerted Malaysian authorities to the presence of the foreign vessel last month. Following the detention of the Chinese ship by local maritime police, a search uncovered cannon shells suspected to be from World War Two. Malaysian agencies are now investigating the origin of the ammunition.

Earlier this month, Malaysian police seized a cache of unexploded artillery, believed to be from the two sunken vessels, from a private scrapyard in the state of Johor. In 2017, during a visit to Malaysia, a local diver had shown Prince Charles images documenting the damage inflicted by scavengers on the HMS Prince of Wales. The UK government pledged to collaborate with the Malaysian and Indonesian authorities to investigate reports of the plundering of up to six British warships in their waters.

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