Malaysia seizes Chinese ship suspected of looting WWII wrecks

Malaysian authorities have seized a Chinese registered dredger suspected of looting the wrecks of British warships that sunk off the east coast of the peninsula during World War II.

The Fuzhou-registered Chuan Hong 68 was detained off the coast of the Malaysian state of Johor on May 28, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said in a statement on Facebook on Tuesday.In a joint operation with police, officers found 100 unexploded artillery shells on board.

Photos released by the agency showed piles of rusted metal on the boat’s deck as well as cranes and cutting equipment.

“Maritime Malaysia (Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency) does not rule out the possibility that this vessel is involved in the theft of old British warship wrecks,” the statement said.

The HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales sank in the South China Sea after being attacked by Japanese fighter aircraft in December 1941. Nearly 850 sailors were killed in one of the worst disasters in British naval history.