MH370 The government is discussing with China for additional ships in the search mission for Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 aircraft, said Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai.

He said there was a need for more ships as currently 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 in Kuala Lumpur today.

He added that the government would discuss the programme with Australia and China in conjunction with the first anniversary of the missing aircraft on March 8.

On Jan 29, Civil Aviation Department director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman announced that the MAS flight MH370 had been officially declared as having met an accident under international aviation regulations and all 239 passengers and crew were 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.  

- Bernama