Australian vessels head to southern Indian Ocean to check if MH370 has been found

Air Commodore John McGarry (L) listens to John Young, Australian Maritime Safety Authority emergency response general manager, during a press conference in Canberra on March 20, 2014 about satellite imagery of objects possibly related to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 (AFP/ Mark GRAHAM)

>> Two objects spotted possibly related to MH370: Australia

Canberra: Australian ships and planes are heading to an area in the southern Indian Ocean where objects believed to be parts of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 were spotted.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a news conference that the objects were of different sizes with the largest being 24 metres (79 feet), but cautioned that there is still a need to verify the objects seen in satellite imagery.

"The objects are relatively indistinct. The indication to me is of objects  that are of a reasonable size and probably awash with water and bobbing up and  down over the surface," said Australian Maritime Safety Authority official John Young.

A Hercules aircraft is expected in the area off Perth where AMSA said visibility is poor, to drop data marker buoys to collect information on water movement.

The AMSA also said there are "blobs" on the water surface and there is a need to "locate and recover what we are looking for... and confirmation that it belongs to the aircraft".

At the same time, the AMSA cautioned that the "imagery is not that precise" although the objects sighted in the MH370 search is the "best lead we have".

"This is a lead, it is probably the best lead we have right now. But we  need to get there, find them, see them, assess them, to know whether it's  really meaningful or not," said Young.

The AMSA news conference came shortly after Malaysian Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, "I can confirm we have a new lead" when asked about objects found in the southern Indian Ocean thought to be part of the Malaysian airliner that's been missing for 12 days.

With both Australia and Malaysia cautious on raising hopes, officials in KL have stressed the need to "verify" the possible Australian find.

"We have been very consistent. We want to verify, we want to corroborate," said Hishammuddin at Kuala Lumpur  International Airport, where he is overseeing an international search effort.