Chinese satellite image offers clue for Australia's Sunday search

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said on Saturday it will take into account the latest satellite image provided by the Chinese government when planning Sunday's search. China provided a satellite image to Australia possibly showing a 22.5 meter floating object in the southern Indian Ocean. AMSA said it has plotted the position and it falls within Saturday's search area. The object was not sighted on Saturday, AMSA said. During Saturday's search, a civil aircraft tasked by AMSA reported sighting a number of small objects with the naked eye, including a wooden pallet, within a radius of five km, said AMSA. A Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) P3 Orion aircraft with specialist electro-optic observation equipment was diverted to the location, arriving after the first aircraft left but only reported sighting clumps of seaweed. The RNZAF Orion dropped a datum marker buoy to track the movement of the material. A merchant ship in the area has been tasked to relocate and identify the material. The search area experienced good weather conditions on Saturday with visibility of around 10 km and moderate seas. An AMSA statement Saturday said three RAAF P3 Orion maritime surveillance aircraft, a New Zealand P3 Orion and two ultra-long range commercial jets would search the area, about 2,500 km southwest of Perth on Saturday. Two commercial jets and an RAAF P3 Orion were the first group of aircraft to depart from Perth around 9 a.m. Canberra time Saturday. Two merchant ships were also in the search area to help the hunt and a total of six merchant ships have assisted the search since a shipping broadcast was issued by the AMSA on Monday. The Royal Australian Navy supply ship HMAS Success arrived there late Saturday. The arrival of three Chinese air force aircraft Saturday bolstered hopes among searchers scouring the oceans off southwest Australia for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 just as weather in the search area is forecast to deteriorate. The two Ilyushin IL-76 cargo planes, together with a Y-8, are to assist in the search effort in the so-called southern corridor. China has also sent five ships to join the search, including the helicopter-carrying icebreaker Xuelong (Snow Dragon), which left the Australian port of Fremantle for the south Indian Ocean to search possible debris of the missing jet. Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss, who was at the Pearce Airforce Base, 50 km north of Perth, welcomed the Chinese aircraft to the international operation. Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Group Captain Craig Heap, who was accompanying Truss, said the Chinese aircraft would join the search on Sunday, and the two men praised their capabilities. "They will do a great job and I'm sure they will assist us to clear the area," said Heap. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said Saturday that the current search area was identified based on satellite images provided by the Australia Geospatial-Intelligence Organization (AGO) and has been expanded to 36,000 square km. Analysis of the satellite images identified two objects possibly relating to the missing flight MH370. The images have been assessed to be credible but it is also possible that they do not relate to the missing plane, a Boeing 777-200ER, the AMSA said