Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: The Australia-led search team for the missing Malaysian flight MH370 has discovered 58 hard objects inconsistent with the Indian Ocean seabed, raising hopes of solving the over six months-long aviation mystery.
Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) which is leading the search for the plane is currently in the midst of retrieving the objects to be analysed.
"We have only discovered 58 solid objects, but yet to learn if they are from (Malaysia Airlines) flight MH370. We have to verify whether the objects are the plane's wreckage or hard rocks before coming to a conclusion," he said in a press conference on Sunday.
Liow also said Malaysia's Petronas will be deploying its "Go Phoenix" vessel to assist in the MH370 search mission at the southern Indian Ocean floor.
He said the asset, which is commonly used in oil exploration is expected to arrive in Perth on September 21.
"Go Phoenix will help in the search mission, alongside Australia's Furgo Discovery ship to map the ocean floor," Liow was quoted as saying by the New Strait Times.
The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200 carrying 239 people, including five Indians, an Indo-Canadian and 154 Chinese nationals - mysteriously vanished on March 8 en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.
Earlier this month, the Australian authority leading the search for the plane said that "hard spots" had been found on the Indian Ocean seabed, but that most would likely be geological features.
Experts are conducting a sonar survey of a remote patch of the southern Indian Ocean, an area never previously explored in such detail, in preparation for an underwater search for the plane.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau had said the sonar search had provided information on the depth of the water and the composition of the sea floor in the search zone.
Last month Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said the ongoing mapping of the ocean floor had already uncovered "quite remarkable" geographical features, including the discovery of new volcanoes up to 2,000 metres high.
Six months after the jet disappeared in the Indian Ocean, aviation experts are still clueless over the world's greatest aviation mystery.
The search operation, described by Australian officials as the largest in history, has so far turned up no debris from the plane.
Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) which is leading the search for the plane is currently in the midst of retrieving the objects to be analysed.
"We have only discovered 58 solid objects, but yet to learn if they are from (Malaysia Airlines) flight MH370. We have to verify whether the objects are the plane's wreckage or hard rocks before coming to a conclusion," he said in a press conference on Sunday.
He said the asset, which is commonly used in oil exploration is expected to arrive in Perth on September 21.
Advertisement
The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200 carrying 239 people, including five Indians, an Indo-Canadian and 154 Chinese nationals - mysteriously vanished on March 8 en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.
Advertisement
Experts are conducting a sonar survey of a remote patch of the southern Indian Ocean, an area never previously explored in such detail, in preparation for an underwater search for the plane.
Advertisement
Last month Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said the ongoing mapping of the ocean floor had already uncovered "quite remarkable" geographical features, including the discovery of new volcanoes up to 2,000 metres high.
Advertisement
The search operation, described by Australian officials as the largest in history, has so far turned up no debris from the plane.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
10 Years On, 298 Victims Of MH17 Disaster Still Await Justice Iran-Backed Houthis Target 2 Ships In Red Sea, Indian Ocean UK Scientists Plan Seabed Explosions To Solve Mystery Of Missing Flight MH370 Travel Influencer Aanvi Kamdar Dies After Falling Off A Waterfall Near Mumbai Amid Huge Row, Karnataka Pauses Bill For Reservation In Private Sector Firms BJP Subtly Asking Ajit Pawar To Quit "Mahayuti": Sharad Pawar's NCP West Bengal Forms Seven-Member Panel To Review New Criminal Laws US Military Declares End Of Troubled Gaza Aid Pier Mission What Is PM SHRI? Which States Resisted Centres Showcase Schools Scheme Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.