Satellite imagery showed this Chinese ship digging a shell in the area where HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse were sunk in 1941.
By Le Figaro
Published on 05/24/2023 at 23:06
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A Chinese ship in the South China Sea (illustrative photo). TED ALJIBE / AFP
A Chinese boat was caught plundering the area of two former British warships, HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, sunk by the Imperial Japanese Navy off Malaysia in 1941 during World War II, website Opex360 reported. The Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times also stated that the case was being analyzed by the National Heritage Department and that the British High Commission in Kuala Lampur had been notified.
Fujian Ya Rui Marine’s Chuan Hong 68 can be seen operating a shell dredger used for steel extraction in satellite images released by the Maritime Observatory, a British organization specializing in ocean and ship monitoring becomes. The Chinese ship also “left behind a 2.5-kilometer oil slick,” The Maritime Observatory wrote on Twitter.
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Deja vu looting
According to Opex360, the Chuan Hong 68 was previously boarded by Malaysia for “looting” three Japanese warship wrecks. These moves are taking place while China claims almost all of the South China Sea, ignoring the claims of its neighbors such as Vietnam or Malaysia. However, sunken warships are considered graves, protected in particular by a UNESCO convention on underwater cultural heritage. They cannot be claimed by any country other than that whose flag they flew.
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