The Search of the Sunken Timbers

Famous treasure of diamonds, rubies, and gold nuggets in wooden chest(s) have been well heard for it’s being sunk into the sea and cursed to be found only through an encrypted map, a treasure map. Part of the treat (& threats) of solving the map,  you will be fill with adventures through the journey searching treasure.

Yesterday, I asked my client A, about client C, how is he and how is business. He mentioned the client has stopped exporting timber (market) is bad, and focus on a new business : fish pond. The current mill is doing local sales. And on top of that, client C also invests in getting logs from the sea.

I was surprised. I never heard of it before. So I asked client A what does he mean by "getting logs from the sea".

He said, when logs were being transported from one point (interior log pond) to another point (city log pond), occasionally one or two pieces of logs dropped and sunk into the river or sea. 

These logs dug out will probably be full of seaweeds and mold. It then will be send to the mill for cleaning, sawn into a sizes, a bit of seasoning (proper drying methods), bundle  & pack, and it is ready for sales. 

Out of curiosity, I googled to find out more about getting logs from the sea , came across only one article related to sunken logs,  Priceless Rush on Timber and have interesting facts. 

:: History ::
Over the decades thousands of logs slipped out of reach before they could be loaded for export on ships bound for Japanese, European and American markets.

During the timber booming time, take for example the North Borneo Timber, they were able to extracted up to 1.2 million cubic meters, which is about 300,000 logs a year at the mid 1980’s.

Ross Ibbotson, retired forest manager and historian has just completed researching the history of logging in North Borneo for a book. He said “ If you lost 7 or 8 pieces of pieces a load then that would be a lot, you can hear a scream of the ship captain when a log became entangled with the anchor and he couldn’t get rid of it”.

During the mid 1980’s , Sabah was producing more than 12 million cubic meters of timber a year. Today, the figure has been reduced sharply to a still sizable of three to four million cubic meters, coming from secondary forest. Which then has led to a sharp increase in prices on the internal market for rare timbers.

:: Today ::
Logs are valued between USD 1000 to USD 3000 each, which is seven times more than 2 decades ago and Ibbotson said “ timber prices, like most commodities, are enjoying their highest level yet.

“Some logs were of good quality and sank into the sea during the transfer to the ship. The good qualities ones are heavy and sank". Those are the logs the “log sea digger” seek for.

Dipterocarps were the highest quality does not sink. They floats, so it was much easier to transport to ships and sawmills.

Selangan Batu and Keruing does not  did not float and were bought down from the forest on river through barges which are often overload and sometimes sank into  “log pond”.

A round figure for the cost to retrieve the logs, which includes taxes, royalties, hydraulics, barges, fuel and a team of 12 to 15 men working around the clock is about USD 100 per cubic meter. It is a flat rate so the FASTER the people work, the MORE they earn.

:: Constraints ::
In Tawau, a part time treasure hunter and full time sundry shop is heavily involved in retrieving sunken logs and says “unscrupulous businessmen” have a reputation of hunting for logs without proper permit or licenses. * “in timber industry, where there are opportunities to make profit, often you see people try to get into the business irresponsibly”

What they do is employ divers from Semporna, native Bajau and Suluk who were experts in compressor and hose and know where the log ponds are located … often at the mouth of the river.

Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Tawau and Sebatik were popular spots.

Divers would go to work at low tide, dig in and around the log. A rope with a float was tied around the log and it was hooked up to a scow which then transported the logs to the sawmill where they were cut and sold as market price with no questions asked.

If the logs are near the land they will use tractors to pull it out.

Other Constraints :: 

Key to economic viability was to work fast as teams, but there were other issues like the Toredo worms or marine borers, in estuarine (tide meet the stream) water and ubiquitous (everywhere) pirates that roamed these seas for centuries.

The Toredo were known as the termite of the sea, boring anything that made of wood :  ship's hull, piers, docks, and timber buried at shallow water. 

Ibbotson mentioned " personally I do not think it is commercially viable to work at rivers -  the current and the amount of silt being brought down will have dispersed and buried these logs long ago and in any case Toredo will have got them in the estuarine waters"

Another treasure hunter added " If the worms don't get you then the pirate might"

The water off north Borneo are famed for many reasons.

Suluk, Bajau and Bugis - native seafarers and sometimes pirates.

The worst of them are based out of the Southern Phillippines and have forged a strategic alliance with the notorious Abu Sayyaf, famed for their kidnapping, robbing techniques and links to Islamic militancy.

The east coast of north Borneo is a popular transit route that links East Indonesia with South Phillippines which is often guard by the largely defunct Islamic terrorist outfit : Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). 

Ibbotson said logs were lost at" all major shipping anchorages and  in considerable quantity" around Sabah and included Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Tawau ; the isolated port town for Wallace Bay, which hugs the Indonesia border.

The company I worked for used Filipino fivers with scuba gear and once had recovered about 10,000 cubic meters or 2,500 logs from our anchorage at Wallace Bay," he said. What you need is to identify deep salt water anchorages used consistently for years."

Given the risks : treacherous seas, pirates, costs and uncertainty surrounding the condition of the logs, the search for sunken timber is a dangerous business but it has provided a small fortune for some.

:: Thoughts of the day ::

First, is it SAFE? Safe as in these logs to be process into wood products such as decking, garden use, chair, table used in a housing environment. Also, digging out the logs from the sea or the mouth of the river, does it cause any environmental damages to the water quality?

Second, how do we classify these logs origin?   The 3 major markets (EU Timber Regulation 2010, US Lacey Act 2008, Australian Illegal LoggingProhibition Bill 2011) that promotes and eliminate trade of illegal timbers, means knowing the timber products shipping to their countries are traceable back to the forest license area.  So if in a special case these timbers to be export to these countries, what is the logs origin? Is it definitely from Sabah, Malaysia? 

Source : sinkerlogs