The wreckage of a Japanese ship torpedoed during World War II with more than 1,000 people on board, most of them Australian prisoners, has been found off the coast of the Philippines, the Silentworld Foundation, an underwater archeology group, announced on Saturday.

The mixed cargo Montevideo Maru was sunk on July 1, 1942 by the American submarine USS Sturgeon, whose crew did not know that it was transporting Allied prisoners of war to the Chinese island of Hainan, which was occupied by the Japanese army.

According to the Silentworld Foundation, an estimated 1,060 people of 14 nationalities, including 979 Australians, were killed during the Battle of Rabaul in New Guinea, including at least 850 soldiers.

The wreckage was found on April 18 at a depth of more than 4,000 meters in the South China Sea, 110 kilometers from the Philippine island of Luzon, after a twelve-day search using, among other things, an underwater drone equipped with a sonar.

According to the Silentworld Foundation, it took more than five years to plan the mission to find the ship, whose location remained a secret for almost 81 years.

“The resting place of the lost souls on the Montevideo Maru has finally been found,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement released on social media.

“We hope today’s news will bring some comfort to those around us who have waited so long,” he added.

This shipwreck remains one of the greatest maritime tragedies in Australian history.

“The discovery of the Montevideo Maru closes a harrowing chapter in Australia’s military and maritime history,” said Silentworld director John Mullen, who conducted the research with Dutch offshore company Fugro and the Australian military.

The Silentworld Foundation stated that the wreckage of the Montevideo Maru, which lies at a depth greater than that of the Titanic, will not be disturbed. No objects or human remains will be brought to the surface out of respect for the families of the victims. (Agerpress)