Quang NgaiProvince authorities are calling on people who have found antique items from the shipwreck offshore to hand them in and receive a bonus, or they may be punished. Le Viet Chu, deputy chairman of the central provincial People’s Committee made the statement after a great deal of people sailed to the sea area where a sunken ship had been spotted to search for ancient items and keep or sell them.

They could sell an ancient dish for up to VND60 million (US$2,900), authorities said. As previously reported, after a wrecked ship containing many antique items was discovered on September 8 by fishermen fishing off Binh Son District, many people flocked to the area, which is just 50 meters from the seashore, to hunt for treasures despite prevention from authorities. The locals have taken away a great deal of ancient items, while concerned agencies were only able to seize 12 ancient bowls made of porcelain and 4 large enamel bowls from local divers. Meanwhile, under Decree 96/2009, dated October 30, 2009, regarding the disposal of buried and sunken property which is discovered on the mainland, on islands and in the sea of Vietnam, the antique items from the sunken ship off Quang Ngai belong to the State.

The Decree also stipulates that those who find buried and sunken property and do not report or hand it in but instead retain it as their own asset may be given administrative or criminal treatment. A reward in cash will be given to those who find or hand in antique items they have found to authorities. Such a reward ranges from 0.5 percent to up to 30 percent of the value of the found ancient items, depending on the level of value of those items, the Decree said. In addition, they will also be given certificates of merit or medals to honor their actions. The specific amount of the reward will be decided by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, but will not exceed VND200 million ($9,600). Le Thi Chung, deputy director of Quang Ngai Province’s Museum, said the antiques from the wrecked ship date back to the 15th century and are from the Ming dynasty in China.

Hundreds of fishing boats sailing to the area where antique items have been found from a sunken ship (Photo: Tuoi Tre)