‘Grave robber’ Chinese salvage ship is caught looting British WW2 battleship burial sites for steel

A Chinese salvage ship has been caught looting the war graves of hundreds of British sailors for scrap metal off the coast of Malaysia in what Britain’s former naval chief described as ‘an absolute disgrace’ and a ‘loathsome’ act.

The battleship HMS Prince of Wales, one of the Royal Navy’s most capable vessels of the Second World War, was sunk by Japanese bombers in 1941 in the South China Sea. 

An older battlecruiser, the HMS Repulse, was also sunk just a few miles away.

The destruction of the vessels – just days after the Japanese attack on the US base at Pearl Harbor – came as a major blow to the British in the Far East and claimed the lives of 840 sailors. 

The shipwrecks, located in Malaysian waters, are now officially designated as war graves. 

But a Chinese vessel – the Chuan 68 – has since been spotted lurking illegally over the site trying to dredge up the high-quality steel used in the manufacture of the warship’s hulls. 

News of the vessel’s plundering has outraged Admiral Lord Alan West, the former head of the Royal Navy – who lost 22 men when his frigate HMS Ardent was sunk during the Falklands War in 1982.

Blasting the scrap metal ‘grave robbers’, the former military chief told MailOnline: ‘This is an absolute disgrace. 

‘These are burial sites with all the bodies still there. These Chinese wreckers or scrap metal men don’t give a damn about this. 

‘It’s a loathsome thing to do. It’s very distressing for the families and next of kin of those sailors killed on HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales. 

‘When I think of my ship sunk in the Falklands, I wouldn’t want people diving on that and taking things away from it. This is a disgusting thing to happen.’ 

And another former First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, told MailOnline: ‘These people are scavengers of the worst order.’ 

The crew of the Chuan 68 are well known as illegal scavengers. 

They were temporarily detained in 2017 amid allegations they had scavenged parts from three Japanese World War II shipwrecks near Usukan, Malaysia, before the Indonesian navy intercepted the ship while it was attempting to raise parts of a shipwreck near the Anambas Islands – forcing the Chuan 68 to flee to international waters.

The vessel is also notorious for illegally salvaging World War 2 shipwrecks in Singaporean, Cambodian and Vietnamese waters.

Chaun 68 remains wanted by Indonesian authorities for plundering the remains of sunken Dutch warships HNLMS De Ruyter, HNLMS Java and HNLMS Kortenaer in the Java Sea.

A source told the New Straits Times the Chinese vessel is well known among the shipping community for its looting activities, which have been ongoing for around 10 years.

‘Ten years ago, it resembled a dilapidated barge. But it is now fitted with high-technology equipment,’ the source said.

‘They operate mechanically and entirely from the surface of the barge, which is equipped with cranes sporting huge metal claws.

‘The claws can plunge more than 200m deep. It chops up the ship and pulls up hundred tonnes of metal in one go.’

The source said the vessel would evade detection by turning off its Global Positioning System (GPS), and WiFi devices onboard before going into hiding.

The coastline off Indonesia and Malaysia is littered with WWII-era shipwrecks, and Chinese-owned barges fitted with cranes have been carrying out illegal operations at the war burial sites of ships belonging to several countries, including Britain, Japan, the Netherlands, India and Australia.

The scavengers are attracted by highly valuable non-irradiated steel – also known as low-background steel – from the wrecks.

Steel produced prior to the detonation of the first atomic bombs in the 1940s – particularly the high-grade steel used in the manufacture of warship hulls – is not contaminated by radiation. 

It retains its quality long after being submerged underwater and is much sought after by manufacturers of surgical implements and scientific equipment. 

China’s scavengers can smelt down the steel they manage to recover and sell it off for huge profits. 

A total of 10 British vessels were sunk by Japanese torpedoes and planes in 1941 and 1942 off the coast of Malaysia and Indonesia, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,000 sailors.

The battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser HMS Repulse, accompanied by four UK destroyers, were on a mission to intercept Japanese invasion convoys in the South China Sea in December 1941.

But the vessels put to sea without air cover and the fleet was attacked by waves of Japanese aircraft, with eight torpedoes striking their targets. 

Both ships turned over as they sank – the remains of the Repulse sit at a depth of 183ft, with the Prince of Wales even deeper at 223ft.

The shipwrecks are designated as official war graves under the Protection of Wrecks Act of 1973 and the Protection of Maritime Relations Act of 1986, and must not be disturbed.

In 2018, Britain’s former Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson ordered Royal Navy survey vessels to examine the wrecks of British warships previously plundered by pirates. 

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it was liaising with local authorities following the latest looting of the wrecks. 

An MoD spokesman added: ‘We strongly condemn any desecration of any maritime military grave. Where we have evidence of desecration of the wrecks of Royal Navy vessels, we will take appropriate action, including working with regional Governments and partners to prevent inappropriate activity at such sites.’