According to France's Defence Minister Florence Parly, a naval mission to locate and recover a French submarine that was lost without trace has located the vessel.
"It's a success, a relief and a technical feat," Parly wrote on Twitter.
Nous venons de retrouver la Minerve. C'est un succès, un soulagement et une prouesse technique. Je pense aux familles qui ont attendu ce moment si longtemps. pic.twitter.com/pjDnj7lEyb
— Florence Parly (@florence_parly) July 22, 2019
A special autonomous underwater vessel belonging to the French Institute for the Exploration and Exploitation of the Sea (Infremer) was used to search for the submarine.
The submarine was lost near the French port of Toulon off France's southern coast.
The French submarine "La Minerve" (S647) was a diesel–electric submarine and belonged to the Daphné class. In total, there were 9 such boats in the French Navy. The last of them was decommissioned in 1990. The length of the hull at the waterline was 58 metres and the vessel was 7 metres long. It had an underwater displacement of 1,045 tonnes and could travel at a speed of 16 knots underwater.
The boat had a range of almost 9 thousand km and a high margin of safety.
