A search for specially-equipped U.S. Air Force planes off the Egyptian coast for the remains of the Israeli submarine Dakar, which disappeared without a trace in 1968, was to have started Saturday, but was delayed without any explanation.
The submarine was on its delivery voyage from Britain when it disappeared, with all 69 men aboard.
The U.S. had agreed to conduct the search on behalf of Israel, following Egyptian consent for the work over and within Egyptian territorial waters, as part of normalizing relations between the two countries.
Techniques used in the discovery of the wreck of the Titanic had sparked the Israeli appeal to the U.S. for similar aid in seeking the submarine. If the magnetic-detecting aircraft finds traces, the Titanic underwater search craft may then also be used.
Israeli and Egyptian observers were to have flown aboard the U.S. search aircraft. The Americans had maintained strict secrecy last week about their search plans, and had even refused to confirm that it was to have started Saturday.
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