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Earlier today Malaysian transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein was handed a note during a press conference telling him of a Chinese discovery of another piece of suspected debris in the Indian Ocean stating the object is 22.5m long and 13m wide, and was spotted by their satellites 120k west of where teams have been working off the coast of Australia.
According to Xinhua, the object was spotted on images from March 18, two days after those used by Australia that intensified search on the area beginning Thursday the 20th that was using satellite data from earlier and other sources.
Two Chinese Ilyushin IL-76s aircraft are on the tarmac of the Pearce military base near Perth, ready to join the search for MH370.
Per BBC more information from Chinese sources is expected soon.
Earlier
Satellite captured images led to the narrowing of a search area and additional resources were called in for the search after their assessment by the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation Thursday.There had been no success by the end of the day but began again Friday morning.
Despite the inconclusive results of Thursday's search, Australia's prime minister, Tony Abbott â who revealed the satellite image analysis earlier on Thursday â said that the discovery could be a major breakthrough. He had reportedly briefed his Malaysian counterpart, Najib Razak, and later informed the Australian Parliament. Officials warned "Poor visibility is hampering the hunt in the southern Indian Ocean for possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight" spotted on satellite imagery as military aircraft and ships raced to the scene.
The Press Release from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority reported
Four aircraft involved in Thursdayâs search covered an area of 23000 square kilometres.
Two Royal Australia Air Force AP-3C Orions, a US Navy P8 Poseidon, and a Royal New Zealand Air ForceP-3K2 Orion were utilised, along with an RAAF C-130J Hercules aircraft.
A merchant ship arrived in the search area on Thursday evening. Another merchant ship is en route to the area.
A total of six merchant ships have assisted in the search since a shipping broadcast was issued on Monday night.
The Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Success is also en route to the search area.
First on the scene in the area where the possible debris was spotted was a Norwegian car carrier Hoegh St. Petersburg. . The Norwegian shipping association told Reuters the ship was the first one to arrive in the area at 0800 GMT. âWeâve got a request from Australian authorities to search the area, and we will assist as long as needed,â said Kristian Olsen, a spokesman at Hoegh Autoliners.
HMAS Success (OR 304) en route is a Durance class multi-product replenishment oiler serving in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
Sydney Morning Herald reported
In the Australian hierarchy, "Malaysia has the primary claim on this because it's their plane," said an official, "then China because of the number of Chinese passengers, then the US because it's a Boeing."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/...
Investigators face a race against time to find the "black box" flight data recorder from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 before batteries powering the "pings" from its transponder run out.
It may now be just a matter of time. Hopefully the poor families can get some closure and investigators can find the answers to many lingering questions..