Fishermen snag Chinese treasure

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