The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Bluefin-21, deployed to locate Flight MH370 debris, has completed its last search mission.
The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Bluefin-21, deployed to locate Flight MH370 debris, has completed its last search mission.
The search area was determined using the acoustic signals possibly from flight data recorder, detected in early April by the Towed Pinger Locator deployed from Australian ADV Ocean Shield ship.
The data collected and analysed found no signs of aircraft debris.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said that the search in the area can now be discounted as the final resting place of MH370.
As the underwater search conducted was in the wrong place, search for MH370 now involves three major stages:
1. Reviewing all existing information and analysis to define a search zone of up to 60,000 square kilometres along the arc in the southern Indian Ocean.
2. Conducting a bathymetric survey to map the sea floor in the defined search area.
3. Acquiring the specialist services required for a comprehensive search of the sea floor in that area.
The Chinese survey ship Zhu Kezhen has already begun the bathymetric survey (mapping of the ocean floor) of the areas provided by the ATSB.
Chinese ship Haixun 01 and Malaysian vessel Bunga Mas 6 is assisting Zhu, with transporting the survey data to Fremantle, weekly, for further processing by Geoscience Australia.
The bathymetric survey is expected to take about three months, upon which subsequent underwater search will based.
The underwater search is anticipated to begin in August and take up to 12 months.
The ATSB will shortly release a formal request for tender to source the capability to undertake the underwater search, which is expected to cost over $ 60 million.
With the last mission, Bluefin has totally scoured 850 square kilometers of ocean floor.
