In Burma, with the wreck hunters of the Yangon River

Without professional equipment, Than Nyunt dives into the muddy waters of the Yangon River in Burma, only to come up again. the surface of the wrecks, looking for bits of scrap metal that will help him to recover. survive.

“After taking a ship out of the water, I want to do it again and again”, smiles the extreme diver, 58 years old, who works in Rangoon, the economic capital of country.

His mission: bring back the carcasses of sunken ships to the shore, and recover the metal that can be sold.

< p>In the absence of a crane, Than Nyunt and his team rely on the movement of the tides to move their target, connected by cables to their boat on the surface.

In this system which requires months of work, danger is everywhere, on a daily basis, and pushes wreck hunters to stay united.

Men salvage a sunken ship in the Yangon River on February 27, 2024 in Yangon, Burma. © AFP – Sai Aung MAIN

“Whatever our arguments on the boat, we behave like brothers when we are underwater”, explains Than Nyunt.

< p>In nearly forty years of diving, he has pulled around forty lost boats from the bottom, including cargo ships and ferries.

“In addition to to make money, I want to know the condition of the wreck I also talk to the owners about the history of their ship, and we are both happy when we can save them,” he explains.

– 20 to 30 wrecks –

This time, he attacks the “Nya Madi” (” Emerald River” in Burmese), a 53 meter long cargo ship.

Men salvage a sunken ship in the Yangon River on February 20, 2024 in Yangon, Burma. © AFP – Sai Aung MAIN

Than Nyunt had already recovered it in 1981 for its owner, who put it back into service with a new engine. The boat sank about eight years ago.

Manchester United jersey on his shoulders, and gardening gloves on his hands, he dives with a mask connected to an oxygen pump on the surface, by a long pipe which serves as his only means of communication with the outside world.< /p>

If a colleague shoots it once, that's the signal to go back quickly.

He can pass up to three hours in the river, attaching cables to the wreck.

There are between 20 and 30 wrecks sleeping at the bottom of the Yangon River, estimates- he.

During World War II, fighting between the Japanese and the Allied forces sent many ships to the bottom.

Workers salvage a sunken ship in the Yangon River on January 27, 2024 in Yangon, Burma. © AFP – Sai Aung MAIN

The total increased further after Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the Irrawaddy Delta in 2008.

The divers' task is not is nothing like a simple treasure hunt. In strong currents and darkness at depths of up to 25 meters, each failure can be fatal.

– Like a “sportsman” –

“My life is in the hands of whoever is holding the oxygen pump. If something happens to the machine, I can only know if it sends me a signal,” says Thet Oo, 38, a fellow diver by Than Nyunt.

A man holds a rubber oxygen hose as divers recover a sunken ship in the Yangon River, January 23, 2024 in Yangon, Myanmar © AFP – Sai Aung MAIN

After more than four months of work, the skeleton of “Nya Madi” begins to be visible.

During the last stage, other people dismember the wreck using blowtorches, with water reaching knee level.

A scrap metal dealer then goes to buy the metal, and melt it for reuse.

Divers from Than Nyunt's team can earn between 25,000 and 30,000 kyats per day (11 to 13 euros).< /p>

Men recover a sunken ship in the Yangon River on February 8, 2024 in Yangon, Burma. © AFP – Sai Aung MAIN

Than Nyunt is not ready to stop.

“I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't don't take drugs in my life… I have the ambition to work as many years as possible”, he assures.

“I I'm 58 now, and I can work for the next ten years because I'm like a sportsman who's always active,” he concludes.

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