A large piece of floating debris has been spotted in the remote Indian Ocean search zone for missing flight MH370, it was revealed today.
Chinese satellites picked up signs of a ‘suspicious’ object measuring 72ft by 42ft in an area 75 miles west of where Australia reported an earlier sighting of floating debris.
The images were taken at lunchtime on March 18, Chinese state media reported, just two days after the sighting by Australian satellites singled out the area in the southern Indian Ocean.
Since the announcement, Australian search teams scouring the remote area reported seeing a number of small objects including a wooden pallet.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion plane with specialist electro-optic observation equipment was diverted to the location, arriving after the first aircraft left but only reported sighting clumps of seaweed.
Possible sighting: A photo released by Chinese broadcaster CCTV shows a new satellite image of a large floating object in the Indian Ocean that could be related to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
A new hope: Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein holds up the note on which he was passed the information about the Chinese satellite sighting in the southern Indian Ocean.
Hand-written: A close up of the note passed to Mr Hussein. It is understood that the ’30m’ figure is incorrect.
The Chinese satellite discovery was revealed this morning by Malaysia’s acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein at a press conference where he gave the latest updates on the search for the missing airliner.
He made the announcement after being handed a handwritten note, adding that Chinese authorities would make an official announcement ‘in a couple of hours’.
Mr Hussein told reporters at the press conference in Kuala Lumpur: ‘The Chinese ambassador has received satellite images of floating objects in the southern corridor and they will be sending ships to investigate.
‘This floating object is 22m long by 30m wide.’ His figures were contradicted by Chinese media, suggesting that portions of the message were lost in translation.
‘I’m going to follow this up immediately,’ Mr Hussein added.
Rough seas: A satellite picture from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows the cyclone closing in on the MH370 search zone in the southern Indian Ocean.
Mr Hussein earlier told reporters that conditions in the search area are ‘very challenging’ with a tropical cyclone forecast to move in.
‘In the area where possible objects were identified by Australian authorities, there are strong currents and rough seas,’ he said.
‘A cyclone warning has been declared for Tropical Cyclone Gillian, which is located in the southern corridor. Very strong winds and rough seas are expected there today.’
China said an image of the object had been captured by its high-definition earth observation satellite ‘Gaofen-1’. The location was south by west of the possible debris announced by Australia on Thursday.
The latest possible lead in the hunt for the jetliner comes two weeks after it disappeared from civilian radar screens less than an hour after taking-off from the Malaysian capital on a scheduled flight to Beijing.
