– ‘Awash with water’ –
Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) official John Young said the largest object sighted was assessed as being 24 metres long.
The two objects were in the southern Indian Ocean, about 2,500 kilometres (1,553 miles) southwest of Perth.
“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,” Young said, calling it, “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.”
A merchant ship was expected to arrive in the vicinity around 0700 GMT and the Australian naval vessel HMAS Success, which is capable of retrieving any debris, is some days away.
Abbott warned that it may turn out the objects “are not related to the search for flight MH370”.
The international search for the plane has been marked by numerous false leads, but the latest photos are the first solid clue since the search area was significantly expanded last weekend to take in a vast part of the Indian Ocean.
The expansion, based on sketchy radar and satellite data, involved two vast search corridors, stretching south into the Indian Ocean and north over South and Central Asia.
Most analysts had favoured the southern corridor, saying it was unlikely the airliner passed undetected over nearly one dozen countries in the northern arc. READ: Malaysia says missing plane may have turned back.
The satellite photos were taken on Sunday, meaning the objects have been subjected to four days of ocean drift, making them a “logistical nightmare” to locate, said Australian Defence Minister David Johnston.
“We are in a most isolated part of the world. In fact it probably doesn’t get, if I can be so bold, more isolated,” Johnston told Sky News Australia.
About The Author
