On Thursday, July 9, 2020, the Department of Underwater and Submarine Archaeological Research of the Ministry of Culture (DRASSM) and iXblue (https://www.ixblue.com/) inaugurated the great junction of the hulls of the archaeological research vessel “Alfred Merlin” at iXblue’s shipyard in La Ciotat. The LIRMM was represented by its director Philippe Poignet, as well as Vincent Creuze who has been working in collaboration with the DRASSM in underwater robotics for many years. A new generation of underwater robots has been born with this collaboration, which has fundamentally changed the daily life of archaeologists.

Olivier Tempier (IE UM), François Pierrot (DR CNRS/VP University of Montpellier), Philippe Poignet (Prof. UM/ LIRMM’director) and Vincent Creuze (MC UM)

The Department of Underwater and Underwater Archaeological Research (DRASSM) was created in 1966 by André Malraux, the first to hold the portfolio of Cultural Affairs, a ministry created for him in 1959 by Charles de Gaulle. Its current director is Michel L’Hour (who joined the department in 1979 and took over in 2006).