MH370: Aus, China, Malaysia chalk out future steps

Australia, China and Malaysia today held talks to hammer out future steps to find the wreckage of Flight MH370, vowing not to give up the fruitless hunt though it could be up to two months before more advanced equipment is deployed in the largely unmapped Indian Ocean seabed.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss and head of the search operation Angus Houston met Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Chinese Transport Minister Yang Chuantang here to discuss further steps in the underwater search, which will focus on 60,000 sq kms in the Indian Ocean, where authorities believe the Malaysian airliner crashed.

Truss admitted the hunt for the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 - that has been on for almost two months after it mysteriously disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board - will take time, with the seabed in the prospective search zone several kilometres deep and largely unmapped.
This meant specialist sonar equipment and other autonomous vehicles are required, he said, adding that a tender process has begun to acquire such equipment. Air and surface search has already been halted.
Truss said there were only a "handful" of such assets around the world, most of which are in the private sector.

"We are optimistic that we can do (acquire) most of this in the space of one to two months so we will actually have more hardware in the water within a couple of months.

"In the interim we'll still have the Bluefin-21 working and we'll get going on the oceanographic work that needs to be done so there'll be no long interruptions in this search," Truss said.
The new phase in the search will cost around USD 55 million and will begin after existing visual and sonar search data is analysed.
The top experts from the three nations would again meet on Wednesday to analyse information and data collected.

Perth-based Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) leading the search said Australian defence vessel Ocean Shield will today return to its base to replenish supplies and conduct routine maintenance and software modifications to US Navy probe Bluefin-21.
"On completion of the short port visit, Ocean Shield will return immediately to the search area where the underwater search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will continue," it said in a statement.
Though the search so far has not uncovered any evidence of possible debris during operations, the data collected during the 35 days at sea will assist in narrowing the search area for the final resting place of MH370, the agency said.

The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200 - carrying 239 people, including five Indians, an Indo-Canadian and 154 Chinese nationals - veered off from its route after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.