An archeological expedition entitled "Forgotten Slaves", led by Max Guérout, a former French naval officer and director of operations of the Naval Archeology Research Group, and Thomas Romon, archaeologist at INRAP (National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research), took place from October to November 2006, under the patronage of UNESCO and the French Committee for the History and Remembrance of Slavery (CPMHE). The results of the research were made public on 17 January 2007. The ten members of the expedition probed the wreck of "Utile", and searched the island for traces of shipwreck, in order to better understand the living conditions of the Malagasy people during these fifteen years.