MERSING, Malaysia (7 July 2008) — The rampant theft of valuable artefacts from sunken ships in Johor waters especially around Mersing and Sungai Johor had caused the country to lose millions of ringgit, said the Johor Historical Society. Such activities, masterminded by syndicates operating in a neighbouring country, had also resulted in the loss of Malaysia's own heritage, the society's committee member, Zaaba Abdul Samad, told Bernama. He said the thieves would pretend to be tourists who were diving to observe the natural beauty of the seabed in Mersing. "This illegal activity is usually done at night to avoid detection by the authorities and local residents," Zaaba said. After having located the sunken ships, the divers would then raise the valuable loot comprising ancient Chinese porcelain which fetched a high price in the international market. The artefacts would then be cleaned and smuggled across the Johor Causeway to Singapore where buyers and sellers who are active in the international black market would be waiting to buy them. A piece of the porcelain plate from the Ming dynasty, for example, could fetch between RM300 and RM600 in the international artefact market. Zaaba said Pulau Tioman, which was known as Timon among the ancient European traders, used to be a transit point for foreign ships to get fresh water supply and other goods. A local diver who admitted having been involved in the activities of the syndicate in Mersing said he had been offered a high price to dive in the area, believed to be the site of these sunken ships. "The payment for divers could be as high as RM2,500 a day. The equipment used by the syndicates to detect the location of the sunken ships are very sophisticated," said the diver who declined to be identified. He said he had also been offered by a businessman from Sinmgapore, to dive in the waters of Pulau Pisang to locate ancient ships which had sunk together with their valuable cargo. The Museums Department of the Ministry of Unity, Culture and Heritage is aware of the activities by the syndicate in the Mersing waters and an official of the department said that the matter had been reported to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. He said efforts to look for the valuable artefacts within 12 nautical miles of the national waters required a licence from the department. "Our studies revealed more than 100 ancient ships, including those carrying valuable cargo, had sunk in the waters of Mersing," he said. | | CYBER DIVER ALERT | Partners in crime: Grave robbers Leigh Bishop and Brad Sheard. Following the lead of dive industry-endorsed shipwreck looters Bishop and Sheard, scuba diving thieves around the world are destroying historically and culturally significant wrecks for bragging rights, coffee table displays and internet auction profits that amount to a fraction of the revenue shipwrecks can generate as fully protected underwater museums. FROM THE EDITORS OF CDNN Scuba looters around the world aggressively compete for bragging rights, product endorsements and profits from the sales of stolen artifacts that are now on a par with those from smuggling humans and drugs. "The vast majority of the global scuba diving community opposes shipwreck looting and underwater grave robbing," said CDS President Evan T. Allard. "Shipwrecks are part of our historical and cultural heritage. For scuba divers, shipwrecks are fascinating underwater museums that must be fully protected for our children, our grandchildren and all future generations of divers who will dive deeper and longer thanks to ongoing improvements in diving technology ," Allard added. "It is absolutely imperative that the global scuba diving community, archaeologists, coast guards, police and tax authorities act now to prevent Leigh Bishop, Brad Sheard, David Morton (of the Boston Sea Rovers) and other shipwreck looters from exploiting and destroying sunken ships for their personal coffee table displays, internet self-promotion schemes, commercial 'museum' profits and tax-evasion scams." If you have information pertaining to the theft and/or sale of wreck artifacts, or desecration of underwater grave sites by Leigh Bishop, Brad Sheard, organized crime gangs or anyone else, please contact CDNN immediately and your information will be passed along to appropriate authorities. REPORT SCUBA LOOTER |
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