Fishermen snag Chinese treasure

JAKARTA: Five fishermen discovered a haul of Chinese ceramics at the bottom of the South China Sea after their nets got snagged on the sunken treasure.

The fishermen from Bangka island discovered the antique Chinese dishes and bowls after diving 90 meters to free their nets from the old ship wreck.

They have not yet revealed the exact location of the wreck, for obvious reasons. An antique dealer who appraised the samples they collected said the ceramics were likely to be hundreds of years old.

"We are ready to cooperate with any firm licensed by the Indonesian government to haul out treasure from the seabed," one of the fishermen, who asked to remain anonymous, said on Monday.

The five fishermen noted that they had less luck catching fish in Indonesia's territorial waters, due to rampant illegal poaching by fishing ships from Thailand and Vietnam.

"It is likely God's way of improving our lot," said one of the fishermen.

Chinese junks were frequent visitors to the waters of Southeast Asia in the 14th and 15th centuries, transporting ceramics and other Chinese-made luxuries to be traded for commodities, spices and precious stones. --Agencies