$2.5 mln worth antiques to be salvaged from Vietnam shipwreck

More of Vietnam's underwater cultural heritage is to be salvaged and sold at auction. Quang Ngai province will spend US$ 1.9 million in an attempt to make a profit from the sale of the cargo of a Yuan dynasty shipwreck (700 years old) found in 2012.  In a typical example of "shipwreck economics"  the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will pay Doan Anh Duong Co. Ltd to salvage the shipwreck and then sell the reported 40,000 artefacts (worth a highly speculative and very doubtful US$ 2.4 million) at auction. It will clearly cost the  government money and Vietnam's underwater cultural heritage will be diminished but the salvage company has a contract which means they should profit from the deal.

See:

http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/pages/20130103-$257-mln-worth-relics-to-be-dug-from-shipwreck-in-vietnam.aspx

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/art-entertainment/65597/quang-ngai-s-shipwreck-to-be-excavated-in-two-months.html

http://en.hanoi.vietnamplus.vn/Home/Shipwreck-yields-treasures-dating-from-14th-century/20129/2521.vnplus