Indonesian Government will auction a 10th century shipwreck treasure today but no potential buyer had paid a deposits so far. The gems, crystal ware, gold and porcelain salvaged from an unidentified wreck off Cirebon, West Java, in 2004 is due to be sold in one lot by the Indonesian government in Jakarta on Wednesday. Interest have come from collectors around Asia but none has paid the 16-million-dollar deposit, or 20 percent of the minimum sale price of 80 million dollars, by Monday's deadline.
Photo by AFP: Asia largest shipwreck treasure so far
"There are 20 interested participants, including some from overseas. Those from abroad come from Singapore, Beijing, Hongkong, Malaysia and Japan," Maritime Affairs Ministry official Sudirman Saad said.
"Most have come from Beijing, although there is also the National Museum of Singapore," Saad said.
"So far none of the interested parties has put down the security deposit but we will still hold the auction tomorrow... If there are no buyers we'll propose a second auction."
Under the rules, the government can sell directly to auction houses or museums after three auctions. The Indonesian government has agreed to split the money with a private salvage company which helped recover the treasure; Cosmix Underwater Research Ltd., and his local partner, Paradigma Putra Sejathera PT. The shipwreck was found 90 miles off Cirebon, in West Java, following a tip-off from local fishermen in 2004 and it took 30 divers and some 22,000 dives to recover the treasure.
Photo by AFP: Belgian treasure hunter Luc Heymans
Belgian treasure-hunter Luc Heymans said the haul was one of the largest found in Asia and was comparable to the most valuable shipwreck ever found anywhere, that of the Atocha, a Spanish vessel which sank off Florida in 1622.
It includes 271,000 pieces such as rubies, pearls, gold jewellery, Fatimid rock-crystal, Iranian glassware and exquisite Chinese imperial porcelain dating back to the end of the first millennium, or around 976 AD.
"At the time there was a lot of trade going on between Arabia and India and coming down to Java and Sumatra," said Heymans, who led the salvage effort and subsequent battles with Indonesian officialdom to bring the treasure to light.
"But we think there must have been an ambassador on board because so many pieces are imperial Chinese porcelain."
Descending for the first time onto the wreck site north of Cirebon, West Java, in 2004, the veteran diver said he couldn't believe what appeared out of the gloom on the sea floor.
"The site was 40 metres (130 feet) by 40 metres and it was just a mountain of porcelain. You couldn't see any wood," he said.
Photo by AFP: Yue Mise pot
The pieces also include the largest known vase from the Liao Dynasty (907-1125) and famous Yue Mise wares from the Five Dynasties (907-960), with the green colouring exclusive to the emperor. Around 11,000 pearls, 4,000 rubies, 400 dark red sapphires and more than 2,200 garnets were also pulled from the depths by Heymans and his team of international divers.
It took 22,000 dives to bring it all up but Heymans said the salvage work, from February 2004 to October 2005, was the easy part. "All the major problems began after we got the stuff on shore," he said.
The police arrested two of the divers even though Heymans' company, Cosmix Underwater Research Ltd., and his local partner, Paradigma Putra Sejathera PT, had painstakingly arranged survey and excavation licences. The divers spent a month behind bars before the mix-up was resolved. There were also run-ins with the Indonesian navy, efforts by rivals to move in on the wreck, a year of litigation and two years of waiting while Indonesia drafted new regulations to govern such work.
Some of Heymans' backers who covered him to the tune of 10 million dollars began to worry that their investment would be lost at the bottom of the Java Strait, he said.
"I feel some relief now because so many people told me I would never be able to get the permits and get the stuff out of the country," he said. He adds, however, that it was one of the most difficult ordeals of his career.
Source: AFP, Reuters.
Related Posts:
