The National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth last week said it was “distressed and concerned at the apparent vandalism for personal profit”.įirst Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria, from the MMEA’s division in Johor, where the ship was detained, told the New Straits Times that the authorities were investigating whether there was a “mothership” anchored outside Malaysian waters, where the vessel may have offloaded stolen items. The ship was detained over the weekend for anchoring in Malaysian waters without permission. The agency said it had later found cannon shells believed to be from the war on a bulk carrier ship registered in Fuzhou, China, and carrying 32, mainly Chinese, crew.

Malaysia’s Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) began the case after fishermen and divers reported suspicious activities by a foreign vessel off the eastern coast of the south-east Asian nation, near the site of the wrecks. The pre-war steel in the wrecks is much sought-after, as it is not contaminated with traces of nuclear fallout from the manufacturing process, which uses atmospheric gas. The ships were sunk by Japanese long-range torpedo bombers in the days following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, resulting in the loss of 842 lives. Malaysian authorities have opened an investigation into a Chinese-registered ship they say was likely behind the ransacking of HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales in the South China Sea. A Chinese ship has been been detained on suspicion of looting two British Second World War wrecks containing precious uncontaminated steel.

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