Laying of a commemorative plaque on the wreck
An American billionaire, Mr. Victor Vescovo, spontaneously offered, without any compensation, to dive on the Minerve aboard his personal submarine, the Limiting Factor, designed to dive up to 14,000m.
This dive allowed us to:
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Place a commemorative plaque on the wreck itself, which was financed by a collection that brought together nearly 500 donors (direct or grouped)
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Gather additional information, as the images taken in July 2019 were not sufficient to understand the causes of the tragedy.
After obtaining the approval of the Navy (to ensure, among other things, that the area would be free without drills) and the DRASSM (Department of Underwater and Underwater Archaeological Research), which is "owner" of the site, we were able to organize this dive this Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd February.
It was difficult to do and we had to do 2 dives to succeed. But these dives were a success we achieved what we wanted to do.
The plate now rests next to the access hatch of the Minerva.
Rather than a text, I offer you some images filmed by the Navy.
From left to right: Christophe Agnus, Victor Vescovo, Hervé Fauve with the plate that must be submerged. @Navy
Alain Guérin leaving the airlock next to which the plate visible on the photo taken after his deposit on the Minerve was placed