KUALA LUMPUR: The government is discussing with China for additional ships in the search mission for Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 aircraft, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
He said there was a need for more ships as only four ships were involved in the mission.
“At the moment, there are only four vessels in the southern Indian Ocean. We will seek the assistance of China to despatch more assets to find the missing plane.
“As an international team, we need the cooperation of all countries especially the expertise in the search for MH370, believed to be in the ocean at a depth of 6,000 metres,” he told reporters here yesterday.
He added that the government with Australia and China would discuss the programme in conjunction with the first anniversary of the missing aircraft on March 8.
On Jan 29, Civil Aviation Department director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman announced that MAS flight MH370 had been officially declared as having met an accident under international aviation regulations with all 239 passengers and crew presumed dead.
The Boeing 777 jetliner carrying 12 crew members and 227 passengers went missing from radar screens on its journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, about one hour after departing KL International Airport at 12.41am on March 8 last year. It was scheduled to land in Beijing at 6.30am on the same day.
Meanwhile Liow directed MAS to lend family members of MH370 victims its cooperation and accord them privileges and latest information on the search for the aircraft.
“The plane search mission will continue to seek an answer on the cause of the accident,” he said when asked on kins of MH370 victims from China who proposed to protest in front of MAS office and to meet the MAS chief executive officer.
The media yesterday reported a group of family members of MH370 victims from China arrived to hold a protest against the declaration that MH370 was an accident. — Bernama