A Japanese transport ship sunk in World War II has been found in the South China Sea. More than 1,000 people were on board, most of them prisoners of war from Australia. It's considered the country's worst maritime disaster.

A search team supported by the Australian government announced the discovery on Saturday. The group used an unmanned underwater vehicle to locate the wreckage northwest of the Philippine island of Luzon.

They released photos of the ship lying in waters 4,000 meters down -- deeper than the wreck of the Titanic.
The Montevideo Maru was torpedoed in 1942 by a US submarine unaware it was transporting POWs, including around 850 Australians. For families of the victims, it was a long-awaited discovery.

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said finding the vessel "brings to an end one of the most tragic chapters in Australia's maritime history."

The search team said it has no plans to salvage the ship or the victims' remains, and the survey results will be used for future research.