The Netherlands says it is willing to help SA identify possible artefacts of a 372-year-old Dutch wreck in Table Bay, but insists Dutch ships remain the property of the Netherlands — even if they have been underwater for more than three centuries.

The Dutch offer, which could involve financial backing, follows last month’s announcement by archaeologist Bruno Werz that he is “95% sure” he has found the wreck of De Haarlem, a former Dutch East India Company ship that ran aground in 1647, a few years before the arrival in the Cape of Jan van Riebeeck...