Hanover, Maryland - A thirty-one year search for the missing Israeli submarine DAKAR officially ended with the identification of wreckage from the vessel on Friday May 28th. Nauticos Corporation, an ocean exploration company based in Hanover, Maryland, under contract to the Israeli Government located the DAKAR in the Mediterranean Sea.

The DAKAR was a WWII "T-class" boat, built by the British, and sold to the Israelis after modifications, upgrades, and sea trials. In 1968, the DAKAR was en route to Haifa via Gibraltar on its maiden voyage for delivery to the operational fleet. During this transit, communications inexplicably ceased and the submarine was never heard from again.

Nauticos Corporation committed a combination of advanced, proven equipment and a highly qualified team of search and operations experts to undertake this operation for the Israeli Navy. Thomas Dettweiler of Nauticos Corporation was the operations manager. He was assisted by Nauticos ocean experts, as well as expert from Williamson of Seattle, Washington, and personnel from Phoenix Marine, Inc. of Arlington, Virginia. Navigation support was provided by the U.S. Navy's Deep Submergence Unit. The Oceanographer of the Navy, the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, and Naval Oceanographic Office also provided support to Nauticos through a cooperative research agreement (CRADA).

Williamson & Associates provided the AMS-60 search system used to locate the Dakar. Nauticos and Williamson personnel operated this system twenty-four hours per day during at-sea operations.

Once the search system provided a good sonar contact, the REMORA 6000, a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with both video and still cameras, was used to verify the sonar contacts and identify the DAKAR. The REMORA 6000, was built by Steve St. Amour of Phoenix Marine, Inc. Both Phoenix and Nauticos personnel operated this vehicle during target identification and verification operations.

Nauticos president, David Jourdan gave his thoughts regarding the discovery of the Dakar, "Our team is proud to work with the Israeli Navy and play a key role in this discovery. I hope that solving this mystery will provide some resolution for the families of the crew of the Dakar."