Wreck of Japanese World War II ship – tomb of nearly 1000 Australians – found near Philippines coast

SYDNEY: Wreck of a Japanese World War II transport ship has been recovered, which sank off the Philippines.

A US submarine torpedoed the Japanese transport ship unaware that it was packed with Australian PoWs captured in Papua New Guinea.

Nearly 1000 Australian PoWs died, along with 33 Norwegian sailors and 20 Japanese guards and crew, as the Montevideo Maru sank in July 1942.

The wreck was located by an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) at a depth of more than 4000m (13,123ft) – deeper than the Titanic wreck, BBC reported.

An Australian maritime archaeology group, Silentworld Foundation, organised the mission, helped by a Dutch deep-sea survey company called Fugro.

Captain Roger Turner, a technical specialist in the search team, told the BBC that “it’s a war grave now, it’s a tomb that must be treated with appropriate respect”.

The wreck will not be disturbed – human remains or artefacts will not be removed, Silentworld said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that “at long last, the resting place of the lost souls of the Montevideo Maru has been found”.

The search began on 6 April in the South China Sea, 110km (68 miles) north-west of Luzon in the Philippines, and the wreck was located after 12 days.