via Channel NewsAsia, 10 July 2021: Another story about the two shipwrecks in Singapore waters announced last month, focusing on the divers (not the excavation team) who first discovered the ancient ceramics.
What prompted divers to head down was a maritime accident on Dec 30, 2014.
A Singapore-registered barge, POE Giant 12, had run aground at Pedra Branca due to bad weather. The barge was carrying two bulk loader cranes and they were in danger of toppling on Pedra Branca’s historic Horsburgh Lighthouse.
As part of the salvage operation, the cranes were blown up and the divers were there to clear the debris from the explosions.
On that salvage operation in 2015, Mr Ahmad had been on his last dive and they were making sure scraps of metal from the demolished cranes were cleared.
Instead, he found celadon plates lost in the sea since the 14th century.
Source: Pedra Branca shipwrecks: How Singapore divers chanced upon centuries-old artefacts underwater – CNA
