Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein on Aril 19 affirmed that the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370 will continue despite plans to regroup and reassess the operation.
He said the search team under the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) set up by Australia and oth
er partners will consider other approaches, including widening the scope of the search and utilising assets that could be relevant to the hunt which entered its 44th day.
Besides maintaining the deployment of the Bluefin-21 mini-submarine for the underwater search, Malaysian authorities were now looking at the possibility of adding more commercial assets in the operation, he told reporters.
Companies like Deftech, DRB, Boustead and several Malaysian companies have met and discussed with their foreign counterparts on how they could increase AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) to help the search effort, added Hishammuddin.
Hishammuddin confirmed that the Bluefin-21, an AUV, had captured clear and sharp images of the seabed while conducting its underwater search missions.
However, from all six missions conducted, no contacts of interest have been found to date, he said.
He also dismissed media reports indicating that it would take the AUV between six weeks to two months to scan the entire underwater search area.
The immediate search area that the Bluefin-21 is now scouring should be completed within the next week, he said.-VNA
He said the search team under the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) set up by Australia and oth
er partners will consider other approaches, including widening the scope of the search and utilising assets that could be relevant to the hunt which entered its 44th day.
Besides maintaining the deployment of the Bluefin-21 mini-submarine for the underwater search, Malaysian authorities were now looking at the possibility of adding more commercial assets in the operation, he told reporters.
Companies like Deftech, DRB, Boustead and several Malaysian companies have met and discussed with their foreign counterparts on how they could increase AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) to help the search effort, added Hishammuddin.
Hishammuddin confirmed that the Bluefin-21, an AUV, had captured clear and sharp images of the seabed while conducting its underwater search missions.
However, from all six missions conducted, no contacts of interest have been found to date, he said.
He also dismissed media reports indicating that it would take the AUV between six weeks to two months to scan the entire underwater search area.
The immediate search area that the Bluefin-21 is now scouring should be completed within the next week, he said.-VNA
