[citation needed] On 12 June 2020 at 10:35 a.m., a fire started at bow of Perle, while in drydock for maintenance and repair at the military port of Toulon.

Since the submarine's 48 megawatt pressurized water nuclear reactor had been removed when it entered the drydock in January 2020, there was no risk of radioactive contamination.

[5] In October 2021, the joining of the forward section of Saphir with Perle was said to have been completed and the submarine was transferred from the Cherbourg shipyard back to Toulon to resume her original refit where it had been interrupted by the June 2020 fire.

[6] Perle was scheduled for continued work through 2022 with sea trials envisaged toward the end of the year and a return to operational service in the first half of 2023.

[8] On 17 November 2022, the submarine left dry dock to continue her tests prior to an envisaged start of sea trials.