In 1521, the main ship of the Fleur de la Maar maritime association departed from the Islamic state of Malacca. On board the ship, which was headed by Admiral Afonso de Albuquerque, nicknamed the Great Albuquerque, was a treasure plundered in several countries.
The ship did not have to travel long, since the reason for its flooding was a storm that caught the ship in one of the seas. Treasures, among which there were precious stones, golden images of animals, china and other valuables, with a total value of about several billion dollars, rest in the waters of the Strait of Malacca deep at the bottom.
In 1991, the Indonesian media reported that the remains of a ship with a large amount of jewelry were found eight kilometers near the island of Sumatra. And perhaps it was the same Fleur de la Maar. Local treasure hunters gathered in search of sunken treasures. Naval vessels patrolled the area to prevent unauthorized local treasure hunters from picking up jewelry from the sunken ship, as the total value of the valuables was approximately $ 9 billion. And, of course, Indonesia didn’t want its budget to lose such profits.
Many companies have been looking for the sunken ship for a long time. So, the company from Indonesia "Jayatama istikachipta", having received permission from the country's leadership, was looking for the ship for 2 years. Despite the very high costs of finding the treasures, the company's management was ready to invest even more in the search work, taking into account the fabulous sum of $ 9 billion for the treasures raised. But under the contract, the company had to give half of all the jewelry to the state of Indonesia, and the government of Malaysia claimed those things that were of historical value.
The company agreed to these terms of the contract. However, the members of the company had doubts about whether all the jewels they raised from the bottom really belonged to the flagship of the Fleur de la Maar squadron. This treasure could have been aboard any other ship that was part of the squadron.
Even gold lovers from other countries were looking for the treasures of the ship sunk off the coast of Samatra. Several companies have entered into deals with Indonesia and Malaysia to recover jewelry from the seabed. However, the Indonesian authorities are reluctant to make such deals, because the treasure will have to be divided into 3 parts: between those who found it, between the country where the treasure was found, and between the country that owns the ship.
The struggle between those who want to take possession of the treasures, and between those who want to keep them, continues to this day. Moreover, this struggle is periodically fueled by the raids of pirates who want to snatch a piece of treasure for themselves. Therefore, the ending of the "battle" for the treasure of "Fleur de la Maar" can be unpredictable.
Promotional video:
And the jewels of the sunken ship to this day remain the property of the waters of the Strait of Malacca.
