Discovery Of Shipwreck Heightens Hopes Of Locating Missing MH370 - Transport Minister

By Linda Khoo PUTRAJAYA, May 14 (Bernama) -- The discovery of a shipwreck in the southern Indian Ocean has heightened hopes of locating the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which vanished on March 8 last year, says Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai. "If (there is) anything in the seabed, definitely we can find the wreckage because the equipment (Furgo Equator) is very sensitive. "It has recorded the composition of the seafloor in water depths of up to 6,000 metres," he told reporters when asked on the latest discovery found during the search for the missing MH370. Furgo Equator, one of the ships tasked with looking for the aircraft, has detected 'a clutter of small sonar contacts', according to an update from Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Center (JACC). It has found a previously uncharted shipwreck almost 13,000 feet below the surface of the Indian Ocean. Liow said the search area for MH370 in the Indian Ocean would be expanded by another 60,000 sq km, if no discovery was made by end of this month. "As we promised, we will continue to search for the wreckage within 60,000 sq km. That is committed by the tripartite nations - Malaysia, China and Australia. "We will look into it (the new discovery) because we are still actively involved in searching for MH370," he added. Department of Civil Aviation director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the discovery proved the equipment being used to detect whatever wreckage was good and sophisticated. "We are very positive (of locating MH370) because the equipment has proven it can detect anything on the seabed," he noted. Flight MH370 with 239 people on board vanished from the radar about an hour after taking off from the KL International Airport to Beijing. On Jan 29 this year, the Malaysian Government declared the loss of the aircraft as an accident under the international aviation regulations and said all 239 passengers and crew were presumed to have died. -- BERNAMA