ROMPIN: Illegal salvage operators, who previously "cannibalised" sunken wrecks on the seabed off Pulau Tioman near here, appeared to have resumed their activities after going off the radar for almost eight years.
Their targets are the steel, high-grade aluminium and brass fixtures from two major British World War 2 shipwrecks resting on the South China Sea bed — battlecruiser HMS Repulse and battleship HMS Prince of Wales — which sank in 1941.
In 2015, several groups of foreign "treasure hunters" used home-made explosives to detonate the heavy steel plates of the ships for easy pickings, but enforcements and regular patrols by the Royal Malaysian Navy and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency forced them to halt their activities.
Some were even caught red-handed at sea and were produced in court.
Now, the presence of a foreign-registered grab dredger some 100km off Kuantan waters to allegedly plunder the items from HMS Repulse and battleship HMS Prince of Wales has raised concerns among the diving community.
Professional diver Hazz Zain, who had explored both the popular shipwrecks on several occasions, said some fisherman from Kuantan first spotted the grab dredger at sea last month.
"They had gone to the site (shipwreck) where there are usually a lot of fish. They noticed the dredger and tried to approach it, a nearby fibreglass boat told them not to enter the site. Unsure about what was happening, they immediately left.
"Several days ago, when I met a boat operator in Kuantan, he told me about the presence of the plunderers at sea and shared the pictures taken by his fishermen friends. When I made some quick checks with a technical diver based in the United Kingdom, he confirmed that it was the same dredger which was spotted in our waters several years ago," she said when contacted.
Hazz, who has been in the diving industry for more than 30 years, said she lodged a report with the Public Complaints Management System on May 16.
"I have alerted the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur about the activities at sea and it acknowledged my report. I informed the matter to the Army Museum in Port Dickson, hoping the authorities will take quick action.
"There were no reports on sightings of warship scavengers between 2017 and early this year. It could be due to the presence of the air force, navy, maritime and other agencies patrolling the skies and seas to keep a look out for such activities. But sadly, the culprits seem to have returned with bigger and more powerful cranes.
"A friend told me that he noticed several videos on social media over the past few days that some of the relics stolen from the warships were taken by a barge to Tanjung Belungkor near Pengerang in Johor," she said, adding that her last dive to the shipwreck site was before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hazz said she was granted an audience with King Charles III, during his visit as the prince of Wales to Penang in 2017, to provide updates about both the shipwrecks.
"When we met at the Royal Air Force base, I showed him some videos and images of the wrecks. After looking through them, he looked upset and said it was already between 60 and 70 per cent salvaged.
"The illegal salvage operators have ruined the wrecks and jeopardised the recreational wreck diving activities. These days, one can only see World War 2 battleships on television or pictures. But to witness it with your own eyes, one has to dive deep into the sea for the majestic and fascinating view."
It is learnt that the grab dredger had entered the country's waters through Pasir Gudang, Johor, and would lift the metal pieces from the sea bed with hydraulic grabs as no divers were involved in the operations.
HMS Prince of Wales, the pride of the Royal Navy, and HMS Repulse sank on Dec 10, 1941, two days after the Japanese invasion of Malaya.
Sailing without air escort, the ships were vulnerable to attacks from Japanese bombers and torpedo aircraft. Some 800 sailors were killed in the attack.
The New Straits Times had previously ran a series of reports on how shipwrecks in the South China Sea, off the coast of Pahang, were being plundered by illegal salvage operators under the pretext of carrying out fishing activities in 2015.
The National Heritage Department had then responded and said it would amend the National Heritage Act to empower authorities to act against people who steal parts from sunken World War 2 ships and extend the protected zone up to 200 nautical miles from the shore under the act.