Two objects spotted possibly related to MH370: Australia

Melbourne: Australia today said objects as large as 24 meters long possibly related to the search for the missing Malaysian plane have been spotted in the southern Indian Ocean, about 2,500 km south-west of Perth.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott told parliament that he called his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak to relay the "new and credible information" about potential aircraft wreckage.

Search teams involving 26 countries are trying to locate Boeing flight MH370, which went missing an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8 with 239 people on board, including five Indians and one Indian-Canadian.

"The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has received the information based on satellite imagery of objects possibly related to the search," Abbott said.

"Following specialist analysis of this satellite imagery, two possible objects related to the search have been identified," he was quoted as saying by The Australian.

Abbott said an Australian Air Force Orion has been sent to locate the objects and three more aircraft will follow this Orion. "They are tasked for more intensive follow up search."

"The task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult...and it may be they do not relate to the aircraft," he told parliament.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) official John Young said the objects were located in the southern Indian Ocean about 2,500km south-west of Perth on Australia's west coast and the largest one sighted is 24 metres long.

"The objects are relatively indistinct. Those who are expert say they are credible sightings," he told reporters.

He said the objects were "probably awash with water and bobbing up and down over the surface".

Young said the weather conditions are moderate but poor visibility is hampering the search at the moment.

"We have been in this business of doing search and rescue and using sat (satellite) images before and they do not always turn out to be related to the search even if they look good," he cautioned. .
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said, "I can confirm we have a new lead."

"Prime Minister Najib Razak had 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.

"At this stage, Australian officials have yet to establish whether these objects are indeed related to the search for MH370," said a statement issued by Hussein.

Experts have earlier speculated that the southern maritime corridor is the most likely location for the missing aircraft, pointing out the unlikelihood of the plane passing undetected over nearly a dozen countries.

The mystery of the missing plane continued to baffle aviation and security authorities who have so far not succeeded in tracking the aircraft despite deploying hi-tech radar and other gadgets.

Australia has been heading the search along a southern arc stretching from the Indonesian coast to the west of Australia.

AMSA has said the search zone covers 600,000 square kilometres of ocean and has been plotted using data based on the last satellite relay signals sent by the plane.

The search now encompasses an area stretching 7.7 million square kilometres - an area larger than the entire land mass of Australia.