Malaysia detains Chinese barge on suspicion of looting WWII British warship wrecks

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s maritime agency says it has detained a Chinese-registered vessel on suspicion of looting two British warship wrecks in the South China Sea. It says it found a World War II-era cannon shell aboard the barge carrier. Malaysian media reported that illegal salvage operators were believed to have targeted the HMS Repulse and the HMS Prince of Wales, which were sunk in 1941 by Japanese torpedoes, days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. A total of 842 sailors perished, and the shipwrecks are designated war graves. Fishermen and divers alerted authorities after spotting a foreign vessel near the area last month. Britain’s National Museum of the Royal Navy last week said it was “distressed and concerned at the apparent vandalism for personal profit.”