By Anthony Deutsch as well as Fergus Jensen

AMSTERDAM/JAKARTA, Nov 18 (Reuters)– The Dutch head of state on Friday called the loss of the wreck of a number of allied battleships going back to the 1942 Battle of the Java Sea “unacceptable” as well as revealed hope that Indonesia would certainly aid resolve the enigma.

A group of worldwide scuba divers looking for Dutch, British as well as American battleships in advance of the 75th wedding anniversary of the crucial World War Two fight found that 2 Dutch ships, the De Ruyter as well as the Java, are no more where they sank, the Dutch Defence Ministry stated. Part of a 3rd ship, the Kortenaer, had actually additionally vanished.

The 3 ships became part of a fleet of allied vessels, consisting of Australians, that triggered from the last continuing to be allied port in Southeast Asia, the Indonesian city of Surabaya, to quit the Japanese breakthrough. It was beat as well as thousands were eliminated when the vessels were sunk.

“The fact alone that war graves were violated is an extremely serious matter, with far reaching implications for the survivors and for all of us,” Rutte informed reporters in The Hague on Friday.

Rutte stated the elimination of the undersea tombs of almost 1,000 Dutch marines would certainly be talked about throughout a federal government profession objective to Indonesia following week.

“Imagine that a war cemetery … would be seriously damaged or desecrated, that would be totally unacceptable and the same counts for what happened here,” he stated.

Indonesian Navy spokesperson Gig Jonias Mozes Sipasulta stated the ships must have been secured under worldwide regulation.

“Normally in these cases those places can be turned into heritage sites, but for this there needs to be a discussion and a written request from the government of the country that feels they own the vessel, with the Indonesian government,” he stated.

Rutte stated “the Indonesians are working with us to get to the bottom of this” which it was vague that was accountable for getting rid of the remains, which might have been restored for scrap.

The look for the ships was launched by the Karel Doorman Fund, called after a Dutchman that led the doomed allied marine attack in February 1942. (Editing by Janet Lawrence)

( c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.