Oslo  - Norwegian defence forces said Monday they would take part in a search for the plane of famed Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen who went missing in
1928.

Amundsen (1872-1928) became a national hero in Norway after leading an expedition to the geographic South Pole in 1911, beating Britain's Robert F Scott in an epic race.

The Norwegian joined in a search for Italian airship Italia piloted and designed by Umberto Nobile that was reported missing in May 1928 after flying over the North Pole.

Nobile, an Italian engineer who also designed the airship Norge, and nine surviving crew members were later rescued from an ice floe off the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago.

Amundsen's seaplane Latham with several French crew members disappeared without a trace in June 1928 en route from Tromso, northern Norway to Spitsbergen.

A theory is that the seaplane crashed near Bear Island, the southernmost island in the Svalbard archipelago.

The Norwegian navy said it would deploy the KNM Tyr, equipped with modern sonar and other equipment during the two-week operation planned to begin at the end of August.

The coast guard was also to deploy a vessel in the search. Other partners include the Norwegian Aviation Museum, Kongsberg Maritime that has developed an autonomous underwater vehicle to study the sea bottom, and Berlin-based TV production company Context TV.

In recent years several expeditions have been launched to find the wreckage of the missing plane. (dpa)