MH370 search: shipwreck found in Indian Ocean

Canberra, May 13: The authority searching for missing Malaysia flight MH370 have found a shipwreck at a depth of 12,800 feet off the western coast of Australia.

At the request of the Malaysian government, Australia is leading the search for missing MH370 in the Indian Ocean. The search is a complex operation that involves vast areas with only limited data and aircraft flight information available.

The shipwreck has been found after spending more than a year to search the missing flight. The shipwreck which is of unknown origin - following the detection of a series of man-made objects on the ocean floor, some twelve nautical miles to the east of the main search area, The Telegraph.co.uk reported.

"It's a fascinating find but it's not what we're looking for," said Peter Foley, director of the search at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

"Obviously, we're disappointed that it wasn't the aircraft, but we were always realistic about the likelihood."

The authority said the objects it detected were "comparatively small - around the size of a cricket ball - interspersed with a few larger items, the biggest being box-shaped and approximately 20 feet [six metres] in its longest dimension".

The authority's initial assessment was that the objects were not from the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft, which disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014 with 239 passengers on board.

So far, about 75 per cent of an initial search zone has been covered. The authority plans to conduct search in another zone, which will take about a year.

"We're not pausing in the search for MH370, in fact the vessels have already moved on to continue the mission," he said.

OneIndia News