While waiting to survey the oceans in search of mythical inviolate wrecks, the
Alfred Merlin
paddles wisely at the foot of the shipyards of La Ciotat near Marseille.
Immaculate white with three thin blue white red stripes, this ship, owned by the Ministry of Culture,
"will make the eyes of any child who loves stories of pirates and treasures swallowed up by storms or wars shine. "
, smiles Michel L'Hour.
General curator of heritage, this charismatic sexagenarian is a legend of underwater archeology.
When he is not at Unesco or on the other side of the world in diving, he heads the Drassm (department of underwater and underwater archaeological research) whose headquarters are in Marseille.
It is his archaeologists and robotic anthropologists who will go on a mission aboard the
Alfred Merlin
.
In France, this ultramodern boat is still little publicized but internationally, it fascinates.
To discover
Discover our file on Napoleon's bicentenary
By jumping on board, we quickly understand why.
The
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