Police are considering issuing arrest warrants to locals who attacked policemen while trying to loot a 700-year-old sunken ship of its priceless treasures as they say they are entitled to them since they are the finders.

The situation is now under control after hundreds of fishermen threw rocks at authorities and overturned a police car in a scuffle with the authorities over who should keep the treasures. During the fight last weekend, five policemen were injured.

The fishermen claim that since they found the ship off Quang Ngai Province’s Binh Son District, they are entitled to keep the treasures in it, thought to be 700 years old.

While local authorities and a salvage company from Ho Chi Minh City were surveying the ship belonging to the Yuan Dynasty era from the 14th century last weekend, dozens of fishermen swam out to grab what they could while hundreds of others flocked to the beach to prevent the exploration mission.

The situation climaxed when the police arrested a fisherman upon which hundreds of fishermen tried to smash to police van’s door and overturned the vehicle in an attempt to help the fisherman escape.

Yesterday, leaders of Quang Ngai province met where Nguyen Minh, Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee affirmed that the artifacts in the sunken ship belong to the state and are national assets.

Also at this meeting, Major General Le Xuan Hoa, head of the provincial police department, called on the attackers to surrender themselves and promised to indict guilty fishermen on charges of resisting officials on duty and destroying state property.

Meanwhile, Doan Ngoc Khoi, deputy curator of a museum in Quang Ngai said that the sunken ship is a relatively large ship, nearly five meters wide.

So far the fishermen have taken only a few antiques from it, he added.

Local police are considering issuing arrest warrants to the looters and attackers. The shipwreck is now protected by hundreds of police officers.

According to Decree 96/2009, dated October 30, 2009, regarding buried and sunken property which is discovered on the mainland, on islands and in the sea of Vietnam, the said antique items belong to the State.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese laws also require finders to hand over the found objects to authorities for a cash reward of 15-30 percent of the value of a relic.

Ever since the shipwreck was discovered on September 8 in a sea area off the commune’s Chau Thuan hamlet by some fishermen, many people have sailed to the area to search for and illegally seize antique items from the shipwreck, despite authorities' prevention. 

Tieu Viet Thanh, police chief of the district’s Binh Chau Commune, said concerned agencies have seized the 12 ancient bowls made of porcelain and 4 large enamel bowls – two in grey and the others in sapphire blue – which divers had picked up in these undersea raids.