Contractor hired for MH370 underwater search
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Australia has hired a contractor to conduct the underwater search for flight MH370.
The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), which is organising the search efforts, said on Wednesday that it has contracted Dutch company Fugro Survey for the underwater mission, which is expected to commence in mid- to late-September.
Fugaro is already involved in the MH370 search, with its Fugro Equator vessel currently conducting a survey of the Indian Ocean search area. The company will now deploy two vessels equipped with deep water submersibles to undertake the deep-sea search operations.
The vessels will search the sea floor using sonar, multi-beam echo sounders and video cameras, in an effort to locate and identify the aircraft debris.
The undertaking won’t be easy however; the search area in the Indian Ocean covers 60,000km² and is up to 6km deep. It is also subject to treacherous weather conditions, and the silt on the sea bed is several metres deep, potentially covering any aircraft wreckage. The underwater search is expected to take up to 12 months to complete.
Meanwhile, surveying work in the search area continues, with Fugro’s ship operating alongside China’s Zhu Kezhen vessel to scan the sea-floor. A Malaysian ship will join the effort later this month. This survey is expected to be completed by mid-September.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared from radar screens while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March 2014. Using satellite data, it is believed that the Boeing 777 aircraft turned back and headed out over the Indian Ocean, before eventually running out of fuel and crashing into the sea. The aircraft was carrying 239 passengers and crew.
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