via Puslit Arkenas on YouTube, 13 April 2020: In 2014, the National Research Center for Archaeology (Puslit Arkenas) and Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) received reports from recreational divers that the shipwreck site of HMAS Perth (I) which located in Banten Bay was being systematically salvaged by commercial divers. After extensive discussions with Indonesian Government departments and agencies Pusat Penelitan Arkeologi Nasional,Indonesia collaborated with the ANMM work together for the first Australian/Indonesian remote sensing survey of Perth in December 2016. This was followed by an in-water survey in May 2017. These investigations revealed Perth has been devastated by systematic, large-scale unauthorized salvage. Following the survey, ANMM together with its Indonesian research partner Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional (ARKENAS) successfully lobbied the Indonesian Government to have the site declared Indonesia’s first Marine Protected Area.
