KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Malaysia's maritime agency said it discovered a World War II cannon shell aboard a Chinese-registered vessel and was looking into whether the barge carrier was involved in the plundering of two British naval wrecks in the South China Sea.
Malaysian media stated that illegal salvage operations were suspected of targeting the HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales, which were sunk by Japanese torpedoes days after the Pearl Harbor assault in 1941.
There were 842 sailors killed, and the ships off the coast of central Pahang state have been classified as war cemeteries. Last month, fishermen and divers contacted police after observing a foreign vessel near the region.
The yacht, registered in Fuzhou, China, was held on May 28 for mooring without a permission off the coast of southern Johor state, according to the agency. It was said that there were 32 crew members on board, including 21 Chinese, 10 Bangladeshis, and a Malaysian.
According to the organization, experts from the National Heritage Department and others will collaborate to identify the cannon shell.
The National Museum of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom previously stated that it was "distressed and concerned at the apparent vandalism for personal profit."
The rusted cannon round, according to the marine agency, was related to the police recovery of hundreds of unexploded artillery and other artifacts at a private scrapyard in Johor. According to the New Straits Times, the ammo was assumed to come from the battleships, and authorities conducted an on-site controlled detonation of the weaponry.
The organization shared photos and a video of a barge carrier with a massive crane and masses of rusted metal on board. The material from the two battleships, known as pre-war steel, is precious and might be smelted for use in the manufacture of various scientific and medical equipment. It wasn't the first time the two shipwrecks had been attacked.
According to the New Straits Times, overseas treasure hunters employed homemade explosives in 2015 to explode the massive steel plates on the ships, making easy pickings. According to some reports, officials seized a Vietnamese vessel that was looting the debris at the time.
