Schatzschiffe und Schiffswracks

[Schneemann]

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Authorities Detain Chinese Ship Suspected of Salvaging U.K. WWII Wrecks

The Malaysian coast guard detained a Chinese bulk cargo ship carrying unexploded shells that may have been looted from United Kingdom Royal Navy World War II wrecks HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, which were both sunk by torpedoes days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency is questioning the 32 member crew about the ship’s recent activities in its waters. Investigators from several Malay law enforcement agencies and the Malay Heritage Department are searching the ship for suspicious cargo that could be connected to the illegal scavenging of other World War II wreckage sites or taken from unexploded ordnance caches discovered in a recent raid on a Johor scrapyard. [...]

In response to questions from USNI News, the Naval Historical and Heritage Command noted the importance of the sites as war graves.

The sites also “can carry significant cultural importance and be associated with some of the most formative moments in the course of a nation’s or global history. For all these reasons and more, sunken military craft should be respected and allowed to rest undisturbed,” the command said in its answers.

The statement added that when the U.S. wreckage site is out of American territorial waters, the Navy “works closely with the Department of State and host countries to ensure the preservation of sunken military craft abroad, which may also represent protected cultural heritage resources of those nations in whose waters they have come to rest.”

https://news.usni.org/2023/05/30/authori...wii-wrecks

Dass das Naval Historical and Heritage Command hier reagiert, ist nur zu verständlich. In den recht willkürlich abgegrasten Gebieten dort liegen auch zahlreiche US-Schiffe, etwa die Houston, die 1942 mit fast 700 Mann an Bord in der Sundastraße sank, oder auch die Langley.

Schneemann