Two Ships Used in MH370 Search Sustained Vital Equipment Damages

By Beverly Linao | Jan 29, 2016 06:30 PM EST

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It has been two years, but authorities have continued to search for the missing aircraft. The continuous search for the Malaysian plane has been halted after two out of the three ships used in the hunt sustained damage to vital equipment in the past days.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau has been spearheading the search for the lost debris of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 in the Indian Ocean. However, the search has caused the damage of a piece of underwater communications equipment that is fitted to the Havila Harmony. The Havila Harmony is said to have an underwater drone that is fitted with cameras and high-resolution sonar equipment. These equipment is very helpful in searching along difficult terrain.

The damage is a result of it being tangled in fishing net and caused it to bend. This damage was only discovered after divers search the ship as part of their maintenance visit to the Australian west coast city of Perth.

However, ATSB said the equipment is set for repair yesterday, Thursday, just in time for the Havila Harmony to leave Perth and return to the southern Indian Ocean.

On the other hand, another ship used to search for this missing Boeing 777 has also been damaged. It is reported that the Fugro Discovery has lost its sonar equipment anad 4.5 kilometers of cable "into a mud volcano that rose 2,200 metres from the sea floor."

However, the ship is now on its way to the Australian port of Fremantle to collect new cable. Then, once it has collected the needed cable, it will return and continue the search using the spare sonar equipment.

The third ship, the Fugro Equator, is continuing the sonar search until Feb. 4.

It can be recalled that Flight 370 carrying 239 people aboard vanished on March 8, 2014. It was making its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. 

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