Two pieces of debris have been spotted by Australian satellites in the southern Indian Ocean. Expert analysis suggests it is possible the debris is from missing Malaysia Airlines flight M370, though Australian authorities are urging caution. The plane went missing mid-flight on 8 March with 239 people on board Guardian
Höegh were asked to conduct a search and rescue operation as early as Tuesday, according to its spokesman.
“Two days ago we received request to do a search and rescue operation in this area,” he said pointing at a map of the Höegh St. Petersburg course “400 nautical miles south. That continued today.”
He added: “We have a vessel with 19 very experienced and skilled seafarers on board. They are all from the Philippines ... All are participating to do a search and rescue operation in the best possible way.”
The crew continued to search at night, he said. “They continued to do so during the night time but with reduced speed using all the available lights on board.”
He said the search with binoculars was hampered by fog.
The Höegh St. Petersburg has 19 “experienced” crew members on board. All are Filipinos.
The car carrier has been in the search area for 16 hours, a spokesman from the company said. He added the crew were looking for debris with binoculars from the deck. This may sound old fashioned but it was the best method, the man from Höegh said.
So far four aircraft, and and up to seven ships have failed to locate the debris detected in those satellite images, according to the Australia Government.
A statement from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority confirmed that the search operation has finished for today and will resume again on Friday. No sightings were reported.
Four aircraft were tasked by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on Thursday to a 23,000 square kilometre area about 2500 kilometres south-west of Perth.
This followed the receipt of satellite data imagery from the Australian Geospatial Intelligence Organisation on Thursday morning.
The imagery, on analysis by AGO, identified two objects possibly related to the missing aircraft.
The images were captured on March 16..Due to the volume of imagery being searched, and the detailed process of analysis that followed, the information was brought to the attention of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on Thursday morning.
The images have been assessed as being credible but it is possible they do not relate to the search. The four aircraft involved in Thursday’s search covered an area of 23000 square kilometres.
Two Royal Australia Air Force AP-3C Orions, a US Navy P8 Poseidon, and a Royal New Zealand Air ForceP-3K2 Orion were utilised, along with an RAAF C-130J Hercules aircraft.
A merchant ship arrived in the search area on Thursday evening. Another merchant ship is en route to the area.
A total of six merchant ships have assisted in the search since a shipping broadcast was issued on Monday night.
The Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Success is also en route to the search area. The search will continue on Friday.
The Australian authorities have confirmed that the first search plane to reach the area where possible objects from the missing plane has returned to be base without spotting anything significant. The AP-3C Orion was unable to locate the possible debris through clouds and rain, but other planes will continue the hunt.
Royal Australian Air Force crew members from an AP-3C Orion arrive back in Perth after completing the first search mission to an area where possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airline was detected. The mission failed to locate any debris. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters Photograph: STRINGER/REUTERS
Daniel Hurst, in Canberra, reports that different expectations about the search have been created by the Australian prime minister and defence minister:
The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, who revealed the satellite image analysis earlier today, has reaffirmed his belief that it could be a major breakthrough in the search for missing flight MH370.
“We don’t know what that satellite saw until we can get a much better, much closer look at it but this is the first tangible breakthrough in what up till now has been an utterly baffling mystery,” Abbott said upon his arrival in Papua New Guinea on a trade mission.
But the Australian defence minister, David Johnston, appeared more circumspect, pointing out that searchers had looked in various different places since the Malaysia Airlines plane went missing on 8 March.
“Expectations will obviously be built. I want to say that let’s just be patient and try and find out what this satellite reference is,” Johnston told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in an interview on Thursday night local time.
“It [the southern Indian Ocean] is an extraordinarily remote part of the world ... This is a very difficult logistical problem. We’re several days away, I think, from really having an idea of the credibility and veracity of this report.”
Asked if he thought it was the best lead in the search so far, Johnston said “there’s been several ‘best leads’ along the way”.
The captain of one of the planes dispatched to the search area has said that the weather conditions are “extremely bad”, raising concerns that they will hamper the attempts to identify the debris.
This is an excerpt from the Guardian’s latest news story by Tania Branigan in Beijing, Daniel Hurst in Canberra and Paul Farrell in Sydney, which will go online shortly:
Poor visibility is hampering the hunt in the southern Indian Ocean for possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight spotted on satellite imagery, officials warned on Thursday, as military aircraft and ships raced to the scene ...
The captain of the first Australian air force AP-3C Orion plane to return from the search area described the weather conditions as “extremely bad” with rough seas and high winds, and said there was no sign of any objects. A US Poseidon P-8 aircraft also drew a blank, American media reported ...
Professor Alexander Babanin, director of the Centre for Ocean Engineering, Science and Technology at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, said that the search was taking place in an area of deep ocean and strong currents, where waves can reach up to six metres in stormy weather.
He noted that floating debris could have been carried 100km away from their position in the satellite photographs, an estimate based on looking at average conditions.
Fragments could be spread over 50km or so, and material suspended beneath the surface could be carried perhaps even further, because ocean currents can be stronger than wave-induced currents, he said.
The challenge presented by the size of the area they are searching has also been highlighted.
Charitha Pattiaratchi, a professor of oceanography at the University of Western Australia told Reuters that the search area covered an ocean ridge known as Naturalist Plateau, a large sea shelf about 3,500m (9,800ft) deep. The plateau is about 250km (150 miles) wide by 400km (250 miles) long, and the area around it is close to 5,000m (16,400 ft) deep.
This is the British naval ship that has joined the search for flight MH370.
Survey ship HMS Echo is designed to collect ocean data to support submarine and amphibious operations and is equipped with a survey motor boat and a contingent of Royal Marines.
HMS Echo, the survey ship helping with the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Photograph: Royal Navy/PA Photograph: Royal Navy/PA
A Norwegian car carrier Hoegh St. Petersburg has reached the area where the possible debris was spotted, Reuters reports.
The car carrier was on its way from Madagascar to Melbourne when it got a request from Australian authorities to assist in investigating the objects spotted by satellite four days ago in one of the remotest parts of the globe, around 2,500 km (1,500 miles) southwest of Perth.
“We’ve got a request from Australian authorities to search the area, and we will assist as long as needed,” said Kristian Olsen, a spokesman at Hoegh Autoliners.
The Norwegian shipping association told Reuters the ship was the first one to arrive in the area at 0800 GMT.
No confirmed wreckage from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been found since it vanished from air traffic control screens off Malaysia’s east coast early on March 8, less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.
Hoegh is due to give a media briefing at 1330 GMT.
The Norwegian car carrier Hoegh St Petersburg was asked by Australian authorities to assist in the search for possible debris from missing flight MH370. Photograph: Hoegh Autoliners/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: HOEGH AUTOLINERS/AFP/Getty Images
Hishammuddin reminded journalists that it took two years to find the black box on Air France flight 477 after debris was discovered in 2009. He said: “We are now going into the realm of trying to find the black box and sonar technology and different assets will have to be deployed in that effort, but we will address that when the time comes.”
How sure are authorities that the objects might be related to MH370?
Air Commodore John McGarry, a senior Australian military official, said the satellite material was credible enough to divert Australian-led search efforts to this area. Amsa’s emergency response general manager, John Young, said it was possible the objects could be debris unrelated to MH370, such as containers fallen overboard from ships. “On this particular occasion the size and the fact that there are multiple [objects] located in the same area really makes it worth looking at,” Young said. Abbott said the search was based on “new and credible information” but cautioned that the objects may not be connected with the Malaysia Airlines disappearance.
What is happening with the search now?
A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Orion was sent to the area on Thursday, to be followed by a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion, a US navy P8 Poseidon aircraft and another Australian Orion. They will be looking for the objects. An RAAF C-130 Hercules aircraft has been sent to the area to drop datum marker buoys. These will provide information about water movement so the drifting of the objects can be modelled.
A merchant ship was expected to arrive in the area on Thursday evening, Australian time. An Australian navy ship, HMAS Success, is also on its way, but the journey will take “some days”. HMAS Success is equipped to recover any objects located and proven to be from MH370.
Have they found the objects yet?
Authorities have yet to announce any sighting of the objects. Amsa said on that Thursday weather conditions were “moderate”, with visibility reported to be poor.
Hishammuddin said experience had taught him to be cautious about Australia’s apparent breakthrough. Asked whether this was the best lead so far, he said:
We consider all leads to be the same level of importance ... Satellite imaging and the experience that we went through in respect of the images from the Chinese satellite confirms that our position was correct from the start. Any leads that we receive must be corroborated and verified, because if found false not only will it jeopardise our search but it will give false hope to the families.
The press conference has come to an end. Hishammuddin described Australia’s possible sighting of debris as a “credible lead”, but the Malaysian authorities are treating it with caution as the search in the northern corridor continues.
Here’s the full text of Hishammuddin’s opening remarks:
Australian satellite images
At 10:00 this morning, the Prime Minister received a call from the Prime Minister of Australia, informing him that ‘two possible objects related to the search’ for MH370 had been identified in the Southern Indian Ocean. The Australian authorities in Kuala Lumpur have also briefed me on the situation, and the Australian Foreign Minister has spoken to the Foreign Minister of Malaysia.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) continues co-ordinating the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft within Australia’s search and rescue area, with assistance from the Australian Defence Force, the New Zealand Air Force, and the US Navy.
AMSA’s Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCC) Australia has received satellite imagery of objects possibly related to the search for MH370.
RCC Australia received an expert assessment of commercial satellite imagery today. The images were captured by satellite. They may not be related to the aircraft.
The assessment of these images was provided by the Australian Geospatial Intelligence Organisation as a possible indication of debris southwest of Perth.
As a result of this information, four aircraft have been re-orientated to an area 2,500 kilometres southwest of Perth.
A Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion aircraft arrived in the area at about 10:50AM.
Another 3 aircraft have been tasked by RCC Australia to the area, including a second RAAF Orion, a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion, and a US Navy P-8 Poseidon.
The Poseidon was expected to arrive early this afternoon. The second RAAF Orion was expected to depart RAAF Base Pearce, Perth, mid-afternoon. The New Zealand Orion was due to depart this afternoon.
An RAAF C-130 Hercules aircraft has been tasked by RCC Australia to drop datum marker buoys to assist in drift modelling. They will provide an on-going reference point if the task of relocating the objects becomes protracted.
A merchant ship that responded to a shipping broadcast issued by RCC Australia on Monday was also expected to arrive in the area this afternoon.
The Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Success is en route to the area but is some days away. The ship is well equipped to recover any objects located and proven to be from MH370.
Every effort is being made to locate the objects seen in the satellite imagery. It must be stressed that these sightings, while credible, are still to be confirmed.
Assets deployed
The search for MH370 is a multinational effort. I will now give you an update on the assets which have been deployed.
During the course of this operation, the Chief of the Defence Force has spoken to his counterparts from countries including: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Maldives, Nepal, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, The UK, and the USA.
All were very supportive, and all offered their assistance. As the focus of the search has moved from the South China Sea and Straits of Malacca to the northern and southern corridors, our international partners have continued to provide whatever support they can.
A number of assets have been deployed at different phases of the search and rescue operation. Currently, there are 18 ships, 29 aircraft and 6 ship-borne helicopters deployed along the northern and southern corridors, as follows:
Aircraft
In the northern corridor, there are 4 aircraft: 2 from Malaysia; 1 from Japan; and 1 from the US.
In the southern corridor, there are 25 aircraft: 2 from Malaysia; 5 from Australia; 3 from Chinal; 4 from Indonesia; 2 from India; 4 from Japan; 1 from New Zealand; 2 from South Korea; 1 from the UAE; and 1 from the USA.
Ships
All 18 ships are in the southern corridor: 6 from Malaysia; 1 from Australia; 5 from China; And 6 from Indonesia.
This deployment includes 6 helicopters: 3 from Malaysia, and 3 from China.
Until we are certain that we have located MH370, search and rescue operations will continue in both corridors. I can confirm that Malaysia is sending 2 aircraft to Kazakhstan, and the UK is planning to send 1 ship to the southern corridor.
In addition to the assets I just listed above, a number of countries in the northern corridor are carrying out search and rescue operations within their own territory:
China is using every means possible, including 21 satellites, to search the area within its borders, and is ready to send more ships and aircraft wherever they are needed.
In Cambodia, 4 helicopters are conducting search operations within Cambodian territory.
The Laos Air Force is carrying out search operations within Laos.
Singapore are using their International Information Fusion Centre, where a Malaysian representative is stationed, to notify mariners and help with the search.
The Thai military are conducting search operations in the northern part of Thailand with all available aircraft.
And Vietnam are conducting search operations within their territory using an unspecified number of aircraft.
Together this represents a significant international force deployment. I am thankful for the co-operation of our partners as we continue to focus on finding MH370.
Family care
The high-level team I announced yesterday is leaving for Beijing this evening.
I would also like to confirm that representatives from the Malaysian government spoke to the families who were present here yesterday.
In addition, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to China, and the Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia, will lead a briefing today for the Chinese families who are here in Kuala Lumpur.
Also in attendance will be the Department of Civil Aviation, the Armed Forces, the Royal Malaysia Police, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and MAS. A similar briefing will also be held for the other families.
Concluding remarks
For families around the world, the one piece of information they want most is the information we just don’t have: the location of MH370.
Our primary focus has always been to find the aircraft. And with every passing day, our efforts have intensified.
Yesterday I said that we wanted to reduce the area of the search. We now have a credible lead. There remains much work to be done to deploy the assets. This work will continue overnight.
Civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman spreads more confusion by suggesting the Australian satellite images were taken this morning, despite Sunday’s date on the images. He is corrected by Hishammuddin who points out that the news was received this morning.
The satellite imagery must be corroborated, Hishammuddin repeated. He said the Malaysian authorities had learnt this from satellite images mistakenly released by China which later turned out to be a false lead.
The search will continue in the both search corridors until the Australian sighting is confirmed, Hishammuddin said. Search planes are being sent as far north-west as Kazakhstan, he added.
The Malaysian authorities are beginning their daily briefing. Once again the press conference will be lead by acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
The debris could have drifted dozens of miles since the satellite images were taken on Sunday, an expert has told Tania Branigan.
Professor Alexander Babanin, director of the Centre for Ocean Engineering, Science and Technology at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, is an expert on ocean waves and winds.
He says the data suggests floating debris could have been carried 100km away from its original site by now, even in normal weather.
Wave height in the search area is around three metres on average in March, according to satellite data.
“If there are storms with bigger waves and winds, it would be more than that,” he said, noting that extreme waves could reach six metres.
Because waves have directional spread, fragments would be unlikely to all end up in the same place; “they could also be spread laterally over an area of 50km or so,” the oceanographer added.
Ocean currents will also shift material beneath the surface: “There are large-scale vortices that can go any way. It depends on how large the object is and if it has some buoyancy; if it’s suspended it could be carried quite some distance, perhaps even more so than [by] waves because ocean currents can be stronger than wave-induced currents.”
Babanin added: “There could be some other debris - there is some shipping in the area - but it’s pretty remote.”
He said research submarines would be able to operate in the area, where ocean depths are likely to be around 4km, but that they would need to be delivered quickly because the electronic beacons on the “black box” would only transmit for around a month and 12 days had already passed.
“It’s not impossible, but it is a grand challenge,” he said.
Royal Australian Air Force pilot, Flight Lieutenant Russell Adams steering his AP-3C Orion over the Southern Indian Ocean during the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Photograph: Xinhua/Rex Photograph: xinhua/REX
You can watch the whole of the press conference with John Young head of the Australian Maritime and Safety Authority, and Air Commodore John McGarry, here.
The Malaysian authorities are due to begin their daily media briefing in around 40 minutes.
The families of missing Chinese passengers have insisted that their loved ones could still be alive, AFP reports from Beijing.
Wen Wancheng refused to accept the discovery of possible debris meant he had lost his son, who was a passenger on the flight.
“My son is still alive. My son is still alive,” said the 63-year-old from Shandong province. “I don’t believe the news.”
There are 153 Chinese citizens on board flight MH370, whose relatives have been waiting for news at the Lido hotel in Beijing.
Zhao Chunzeng, who declined to identify his relative on board, said families were seeking a confirmed discovery.
“We are waiting, just waiting and we can’t respond to news until it is definitely confirmed,” Zhao told AFP.
Asked if he felt that the Australian announcement had greater significance as it came from the prime minister, he said: “Maybe, but we will still have to wait and see.”
Chinese relatives of passengers from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 react as they wait for news at the Metro Park Lido Hotel in Beijing. Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images
It is important to point out that the satellite images of the objects released by Australia are four days old. They are dated Sunday 16 March.
In his media statement John Young, the general manager of the Australian Maritime and Safety Authority, suggested the authorities had taken their time to analyse the images before stating that they could have been debris from MH370.
To repeat he said:
RCC Australia received an expert assessment of commercial satellite imagery on Thursday.
The images were captured by satellite. They may not be related to the aircraft.
The assessment of these images was provided by the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation as a possible indication of debris south of the search area that has been the focus of the search operation.
Tidal drift expert Simon Boxall from Southampton University said the currents in the area were very complex. He said: “If this does prove to be a positive sighting it narrows the search down, but it means we have gone from searching for a needle in a field of haystacks to a needle in a haystack.”
Speaking to Sky News he said it took an “awful long time” to go through satellite imagery.
Australia has released a map showing the location of the discovery of the objects in relation to the southern flight corridor announced by the Malaysian authorities.
Australian government map of the area being searched for wreckage from flight MH370. The yellow arrows show the course believed to have been followed by the plane, according to the National Transport Safety Bureau in the US. Photograph: Australian government Photograph: Australian government
An AFP graphic puts the discovery of the objects in the context of the search and last communication with the missing flight.
Tania Branigan has just been speaking to Dr David Gallo, who co-led the search for Air France flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean. She writes:
The first pieces of debris were spotted within a few days of the 2009 crash, but most of the wreckage and the “black box” (actually orange-cased) flight data and cockpit recorders were not found until almost two years later.
But Dr Gallo, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said that does not mean this search will take as long. He pointed out that in all his team spent only around 10 weeks at sea over that period. “In the Air France case, if things had been done differently, it could have been a couple of months at most,” he said, adding that the initial modelling led searchers to look in the wrong place and that experts had learnt a lot since then, partly due to that investigation.
He added: “In a sense we are hoping this is the plane - it means finally the mystery comes to a close, or at least half way there. “But on the other hand, we don’t because it takes away the hope some families have that someone may still be alive - and I count myself in that group.”
If the debris does turn out to be connected to MH370, he said that every piece would prove useful. “Any little piece from the plane is a piece of evidence - you can get clues right away,” he said. “The ultimate goal is to find the black boxes. One of the pieces is big enough [that] if it was the tail section there might be black boxes in there.”
The cockpit voice recorder may be of scant help in this case: it records only the last two hours of audio before a plane crash - while in the case of MH370, the plane may have flown for hours after the critical events took place. “But there will be other clues, if the plane is treated as a crime scene. We never know what we will find,” said Gallo.
“There should be other things that could give a clue as to what has gone on - the cockpit itself; whatever position the pieces are in; the surface flaps and landing gear. We have the capability now of doing a very detailed forensic study of a wreck in deep water.”
The Chinese authorities are preparing for the worst in Beijing. Medical staff and police have arrived at a hotel where relatives of the passengers of the Beijing-bound flight have gathered.
The BBC’s Celia Hatton reports seeing scores of police and at least five ambulances.
A map from the Wall Street Journal shows the location of the discovery in relation to the southern search flight corridor announced earlier this week by the Malaysia authorities.
Here’s a Google map showing the location of the objects 1430 miles (2,300km) south west of Perth.
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I’m handing over our rolling coverage to my colleague Matthew Weaver now. While the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight has gone on for days, today has seen a potentially significant development from the Australian part of the search. In summary:
In a press conference the general manager of Australia’s maritime safety agency, John Young, said an expert analysis of satellite imagery by Australia’s Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation says the images show “a possible indication of debris” that could be from the plane.
Two satellite images have now been released by Australia’s maritime Safety Agency that show the objects they believe to be “credible” findings. Click here to view larger versions.
Australian authorities have released satellite images of the two objects spotted. Photograph: /AMSA Photograph: AMSA
Australian authorities have released satellite images of the two objects spotted. Photograph: /AMSA Photograph: AMSA
The first object possibly associated with flight MH370. Photograph: Australian government Photograph: Australian government
The second object possibly associated with flight MH370. Photograph: Australian government Photograph: Australian government
There have been hopeful reactions to the news of Australia’s possible findings. The Straits Times reports that China is paying “great attention” to the news while we await confirmation:
China is paying “great attention” to Australia’s possible findings on Thursday of the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight’s debris and has instructed its embassy to provide assistance in search and rescue efforts.
Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China expects Australia to send ships and planes as soon as possible to the search areas, according to a report by the official Xinhua news agency.
“The foreign ministry has instructed the embassy in Australia to stay in close contact with the Australian government and assist in the search and rescue efforts.
“China stands ready with relevant arrangements depending on the latest developments on this matter,” he said.
China’s response came around 2pm after Australia held a press briefing at 12.30pm and revealed that two objects spotted by satellite in the remote southern Indian Ocean could belong to the Malaysian Airlines jetliner that went missing on March 8.
And Malaysia’s prime minster Moh Najib Tun Razak has also said said he was now meeting with the chief of Malaysi’a defence force to discuss matters:
Meeting my Chief of Defence Force. After call from @TonyAbbottMHR, awaiting confirmation from Australia on the objects found. #PrayForMH370
Australian authorities have made significant progress in their search, which began just two days ago. Here’s a cumulative look at how that search has unfolded
How Australia's search for the missing flight has progressed over the last two days. Photograph: /AMSA Photograph: AMSA
The Australian government also breached Indonesia’s territorial waters on multiple occasions earlier in the year in relation to a controversial policy of turning back asylum seeker boats.
A reader has made an interesting discovery about the HMAS Success, which has been tasked to attend the current search area - although they are not expected to arrive for several days.
It appears that the HMAS Success has a Facebook page that shows them leaving Fremantle in Western Australia around 15 hours ago.
The page say it is “created for friends and family of the current serving crew”. It says the commander officer and the public relations officers are the ones that update the page.
Malaysia’s defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein has also issued a brief press release about the possible findings:
At 10:00 this morning, Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak received a call from Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia, informing him that ‘two possible objects related to the search’ for MH370 had been identified in the Southern Indian Ocean. The Australian High Commissioner has also briefed me on the situation.
At this stage, Australian officials have yet to establish whether these objects are indeed related to the search for MH370.
Australia’s maritime search agency are now focusing all of their resources on finding two objects picked up on satellite images that they believe could be related to the missing Malaysia Airlines plane. Here’s the latest summary of events:
A search is now underway for what Australian authorities believe is a “credible” sighting of two objects that may be from the missing plane. In a press conference on Thursday the general manager of Australia’s maritime safety agency, John Young, said An expert analysis of satellite imagery by Australia’s Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation believes that the images show “a possible indication of debris” that could be from the plane.
One of the objects is believed to be around 24 metres long.
An Australian aircraft is now at the scene, and a United States Poseidon vessel is also attending the operation. Two other aircraft, including one from New Zealand, are flying to the location, and a navy vessel is also en-route. Australia has received a number of offers of assistance from other nations to assist in the search operation.
The possible sighting was believed to be “a promising lead,” according to Air Commodore John McGarry, who was also at the press conference on Thursday. He added that defence officials were working towards releasing some of the satellite images to the public.
The announcement comes shortly after Australia’s maritime authority said that the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight off the coast in Australia had halved in size and moved closer to Perth. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority general manager John Young provided a video update of the search operation on Wednesday, which showed that the initial search zone off Australia - an area of some 600,000 sq km - had been reduced to roughly 300,000 square kilometres and had been moved to 2300 kilometres off the coast of Perth.
For those who missed it earlier, here are the comments made by Australian prime minister Tony Abbott in parliament earlier this afternoon about the possible findings.
Here’s the full written statement from the press conference that just happened. All times are expressed in Australian Eastern Daylight Savings time:
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority is coordinating the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft, with assistance from the Australian Defence Force, the New Zealand Air Force and the United States Navy.
AMSA’s Rescue Coordination Centre Australia has received satellite imagery of objects possibly related to the search for the missing aircraft, flight MH370.
RCC Australia received an expert assessment of commercial satellite imagery on Thursday.
The images were captured by satellite. They may not be related to the aircraft.
The assessment of these images was provided by the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation as a possible indication of debris south of the search area that has been the focus of the search operation.
The imagery is in the vicinity of the search area defined and searched in the past two days.
Four aircraft have been reoriented to the area 2500 kilometres south-west of Perth as a result of this information.
A Royal Australian Air Force Orion aircraft arrived in the area about 1.50pm.
A further three aircraft have been tasked by RCC Australia to the area later today, including a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion and United States Navy P8 Poseidon aircraft.
The Poseidon aircraft is expected to arrive at 3pm. The second RAAF Orion is expected to depart RAAF Base Pearce at 6pm.
The New Zealand Orion is due to depart at 8pm.
A RAAF C-130 Hercules aircraft has been tasked by RCC Australia to drop datum marker buoys.
These marker buoys assist RCC Australia by providing information about water movement to assist in drift modelling. They will provide an ongoing reference point if the task of relocating the objects becomes protracted.
A merchant ship that responded to a shipping broadcast issued by RCC Australia on Monday is expected to arrive in the area about 6pm.
Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Success is en route to the area but is some days away from this area. She is well equipped to recover any objects located and proven to be from MH370.
The focus for AMSA is to continue the search operation, with all available assets.
The assets are searching for anything signs of the missing aircraft.
Weather conditions are moderate in the Southern Indian Ocean where the search is taking place. Poor visibility has been reported.
AMSA continues to hold grave concerns for the passengers and crew on board.
The press conference has now ended. While it’s been happening the search has been well underway the ABC correspondent aboard the US vessel responding to the possible sighting has been in touch with ABC foreign editor Jon Williams. According to Wilson’s updates, ABC correspondent David Wright advised that radar searches were picking up some information from the possible sighting location.
Crew on @USNavy P-8 spotter tell @WrightUps "significant radar returns" coming from site where possible #MH370 objects spotted.
“What we’re looking for is a confirmation that it does belong to the aircraft or does not,” Young said.
In response to questions about whether doors or other parts of the fuselage could be identified he said they were not the satellite images were not detailed enough for that level of analysis.
The defence official now said that they were working towards releasing some of the satellite imagery to the public.
In response to questions about how the search will progress, Young said the aircraft will attempt to find the objects, use GPS to determine the location and then task maritime vessels to investigate.
He said they were provided the information from Australia’s geospatial organisation.
An Australian defence official at the meeting is now speaking, and he said that “the imagery has been progressively captured by satellites passing over various areas”. The moment this imagery was discovered it was passed on to AMSA and that it was “a promising lead”.
"Possible indication of debris" found in southern search area
My colleague Daniel Hurst has obtained a written statement from the general manager of Australia’s maritime search agency. Here are the key points:
Australia’s maritime received satellite agency received an expert assessment of the satellite imagery on Thurday.
They requested an analysis from Australian Geospatial Intelligence Organisation which determined they were “a possible indication of debris,” south of the search area that had been the initial focus.
Four aircraft have been reoriented to the area 2,500 kilometres south-west of Perth as a result of this information.
A United States Poseiden aircraft was due to arrive around 3pm.
A Hercules vessel sent to the site will deploy “Datum marker buoys” to help provide information about water information and drift modelling.
HMAS success, an Australian naval ship is also on route.
ABC News foreign editor Jon Williams has been tweeted a series of updates that appear to be from the ABC correspondent David Wright who is on board one of the vessels in the Indian Ocean.
.@WrightUps reports possible #MH370 objects spotted 43 degrees south, 1400 miles from Antarctica, 1300 miles off Australia.
For viewers in Australia, ABC News 24 will be broadcasting the press conference live in just over 15 minutes. Other feeds that carry the broadcast live for will be updated here.
An Australian Orion aircraft had been dispatched to the location of the objects and was expected to arrive about 30 minutes ago. Australia’s prime minister Tony Abbott added that three more aircraft would be joining it “shortly”. ABC News correspondent David Wright was on board one of the US aircraft tasked to the Indian Ocean search region, and could well be on one of the aircraft to follow:
While we wait from an update from Australian authorities this piece by my colleagues Kate Kodal and Peter Walker summarises how the search has unfolded over the last two weeks:
To provide some additional context to the possible findings, Australia’s search operation was dramatically reduced yesterday from an area spanning 600,000 square kilometres to just 300,000 square kilometres. There’s more details in the story my colleague Daniel Hurst filed:
The announcement comes just after Australia’s maritime authority said the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight off the coast in Australia had halved in size and moved closer to Perth.
The authority’s general manager, John Young, provided a video update of the search operation on Wednesday which showed the initial search zone off Australia – an area of some 600,000 sq km – had been reduced to roughly 300,000 sq km and had been moved to 2,300km off the coast of Perth.
“Today the search area has been significantly refined. You can see here that the lines I briefed yesterday prepared by the US National Transportation Safety Board have been refined somewhat based on better, more detailed analysis,” he said.
Young said the refined area had been based on newer calculations made by the US agency “on the fuel reserves of the aircraft and how far it could have flown”.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing almost two weeks ago and has yet to be found. Australia has taken charge of the search mission over a potential southern flight path, after it was revealed that the plane appeared to have continued flying for hours afters the last contact was made with Malaysian authorities.
Australia’s Maritime Safety Authority will hold a press conference at 3:30pm Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time (in just under an hour) to discuss the findings in further detail
Two possible objects related to the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane have been found in the southern Indian Ocean, the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, says.
“I would like to inform the house that new and credible information has come to light in relation to the search for Malaysia airlines flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean,” he told parliament on Thursday.
“The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has received information based on satellite imagery of objects possibly related to the search.
“Following specialist analysis of this satellite imagery, two possible objects related to the search have been identified.
“I can inform the house that a Royal Australian Air Force Orion has been diverted to attempt to locate the objects. This Orion is expected to arrive in the area at about this time. Three more aircraft will follow this Orion. They are tasked for more intensive follow-up search.
“I have spoken to my Malaysian counterpart … and informed him of these developments. I should tell the house – and we must keep this in mind – the task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult and it may turn out that they are not related to the search for flight MH370. Nevertheless, I did want to update the house on this potentially important development.”
Welcome to our continuing coverage of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. In breaking news, the Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has just announced in parliament that two objects that could be related to the search for the missing plane have been found in the southern Indian Ocean. In summary:
Australia’s prime minister says that “credible” information has been received about two possible objects related to the search for the missing flight.
The information was based on satellite images and an Australian air force jet has been dispatched to the area.
The announcement comes shortly after Australia’s maritime agency halved the search area off the western coast of Australia to an area of approximately 300,000 square kilometres.
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