MH370: ocean hunt for possible debris resumes

A Royal Australian Air Force pilot flying his AP-3C Orion over the Southern Indian Ocean during the search for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. Two objects, possibly related to the search for missing flight, have been sighted in the southern Indian Ocean.

AFP/Canberra/Kuala LumpurAustralia prepared to resume its search today for possible plane wreckage floating in a remote and stormy section of the Indian Ocean, as the vast international hunt for a missing passenger jet entered its 13th day. Surveillance aircraft yesterday detected a pair of floating objects captured by satellite imagery, which Australia and Malaysia guardedly called a “credible” lead in the baffling mystery surrounding missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The Australian-led search was due to restart at first light, as a Norwegian merchant ship arrived in the target area about 2,500km (1,500 miles) southwest of Perth, after warnings of poor weather conditions and limited visibility. Four aircraft suspended their search at nightfall yesterday without any sighting of the possible debris after scouring a 23,000-sq-km (8,900-sq-mile) area where the grainy images were snapped, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. Two planes came from Australia, one from New Zealand and one was a US aircraft, while another merchant ship was en route to join Norway’s Hoegh St Petersburg merchant ship. The Australian navy’s HMAS Success was also headed for the area, and Britain sent a naval survey ship, HMS Echo. Australia said the satellite-captured objects - the largest was estimated at 24m (79ft) across - raised hopes of a breakthrough in the Malaysian plane’s mysterious disappearance as relatives of the 239 people aboard braced for another emotional roller-coaster. “We now have a credible lead,” Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said during Malaysia’s daily briefing on the crisis. “There remains much work to be done to deploy the assets.” The satellite images, taken on Sunday, were first revealed by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Abbott told parliament the images represented “new and credible information” but stressed that any link with flight MH370 had still to be confirmed.  Page 7