Malaysia detains Chinese vessel for suspected looting of WWII wrecked battleships.

A Chinese-registered barge was detained by Malaysian authorities for illegally anchoring in Malaysian territory in the South China Sea. The barge was found carrying massive piles of steel ship parts and old artillery shells believed to have been looted from a pair of British battleships wrecked during World War II. The metal was suspected to have been stripped from the nearby wrecks of the HMS Repulse and the HMS Prince of Wales. Looters have been known to target WWII shipwrecks for their raw materials. The National Museum of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom expressed concern over the apparent vandalism for personal profit.