POURQUOIPAS

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Research ship started campaign to locate lost submarine

The "Pourquis Pas" left Seyne-sur-Mer on Feb 7, 2019, to start the first phase of a new search campaign for the lost submarine "Minerve" which was lost with his 52 crew members in the morning of Jan 27, 1968, about 20 kilometers south of Cap Sicié, near Toulon. The wreck was thought to be resting about 2.250 meters deep. The program was made public on Feb 13 by the French Navy, after being presented to families on Feb 11. In 1970, three possible locations were identified thanks to the calculations of the geophysical detection laboratory of Professor Yves André Rocard. In 2019, it will be a priority to look 20 kilometers from Cap Sicié in an area of ​​283 square kilometers, where the bottoms are flat, composed of mud and sand. The privileged position of "La Minerve" is at 42º 52 N 05º 47 E. The operations will be carried out with the means of Ifremer and the Hydrographic Service of the Navy. After the first rough sweep of the asperities of the bottom will follow a second phase throughout the month of July using an underwater drone which can dive up to 2,850 meters, sweeping one square kilometer per hour to locate objects with a resolution of about one meter. Another ROV will sound the mud up to 70 meters deep, if there are indications that a wreck could be buried in the sediments. The results, collected and then processed, will be the base of a third and final phase of research, scheduled between Nov 18 and Dec 18. The submarine "Nautile" of Ifremer will investigate the places where the most convincing echoes have been recorded to take pictures and thus formally identify the submarine. The necessary budget was estimated to be five million Euros.

POURQUOIPAS 9285548

this is not a dredger but an oceanographic survey and research vessel. the owners are IFREMER 55% & FRENCH NAVY 45% build in 2004 by "les chantiers de l'atlantique"