Objects retrieved not related to MH370, says Australia

Workers assemble a Blue Fin 21 automatic Underwater Vehicle, an autonomous sonar mapping device, which will be towed behind the Australian vessel 'Ocean Shield' during search operations for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. (AFP Photo)

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KUALA LUMPUR: A number of objects retrieved by the HMAS Success and Haixun 01 on Saturday have been examined and are believed to be not related to the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight 370.

In a statement on Sunday night, Bernama reported the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) as saying that the objects have been examined on the ships and are described as fishing equipment and other flotsam.

However, according to AMSA, aircraft in the search area have continued to report sightings of objects similar to those reported previously.

Objects sighted by aircraft cannot be verified or discounted as being from MH370 until they are relocated and recovered by ships. Nothing has yet been verified as being from MH370, the authority said.

The Boeing 777-200ER jetliner carrying 239 passengers and crew on board went off radar on March 8 about an hour after taking off from KL International Airport at 12.41am.

Flight MH370, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was supposed to land in Beijing at 6.30am the same day.

The search activities on Sunday concluded and covered approximately 252,000 square kilometres, involving nine aircraft.

They included two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P3 Orions, a Japanese P3 Orion, a Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force Ilyushin IL-76, a South Korea Navy P3 Orion, a United States Navy P8 Poseidon, a Royal Malaysian Air Force C-130 Hercules and two civil aircraft.

AMSA said eight ships were tasked in the MH370 search area, which represents the greatest number of ships tasked in the search to date.

It also noted that the weather in the search area was described as reasonable for searching and the visibility reported in excess of 10 kilometres.

The Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) "Ocean Shield", meanwhile, is scheduled to depart from Perth on Monday, after being fitted with a black box detector and an autonomous underwater vehicle.

The search resumes on Monday morning.