Four decades later, a sunken Cambodian warship returns to land with tonnes of unexploded ammunition

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<strong>In a massive exercise spanning over six months, Cambodia on Wednesday finally retrieved a warship that sank during its civil war in the 1970s and had been lying at the bottom of the Mekong River for decades. What's more, in spite of having sunk to a depth of 27.5 metres and covered with loads of sand, about 90 percent of the unexploded ordnance (UXO) onboard is still in 'good' shape.<br />
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The 30-meter long and 5-meter wide ship, which sank more than 40 years ago, was lifted back to land in Meanchey commune’s Veal village of Kampong Cham province’s Srei Santhor district. The vessel still had 16 tonnes of UXO after mine authorities had managed to destroy more than a tonne of ammunition found at the site in the last eight days.<br />
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The salvage operations were carried out by the Cambodian Ministry of Defence in collaboration with the authorities at the Phnom Penh autonomous port, the Interior Ministry and the Governor of the Kampong Cham province.  </p>
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General Neang Phat, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence and Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Working Group to study and solve the issue of finding unexploded ordnance, said that the specialized forces had been collecting and retrieving ammunition on the ship for the past six months after the launch of retrieval operation in October, 2020.</p>
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"About 90 percent of the ammunition is in good shape and needs to be neutralized," Phat said adding that the ship will be taken to a museum and the unexploded ammunition will be stored and exhibited safely for the future generations of the country.</p>
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Eroded remains of six humans and other weapons were also found from the warship which was damaged in many places from shooting which caused it to sink during fighting during the civil war.<br />
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"It is an unprecedented historical achievement for Cambodia. This operation also shows that Cambodia is capable of not only clearing unexploded ordinance on land but also in sea. It is a matter of great pride for the Cambodian nation," the General said.</p>
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The southeast Asian country had witnessed unending power struggle after the end of colonial rule. The Vietnam War and a military coup also resulted in constant internal strife. An estimated two million Cambodians died due to famine, sickness, forced labour and execution after the Khmer Rouge faction gained power in 1975.</p>
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