Searchers rule out possibility of Malaysia Airlines jet wreckage in Bay of Bengal

Zee Media Bureau/Supriya Jha Perth: The claim made by an Australian exploration firm about finding possible wreckage from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was refuted by the authorities as a new phase of intensified underwater search commenced on Wednesday. An Adelaide-based exploration company named GeoResonance had yesterday claimed finding the wreckage in the Bay of Bengal, 5000 km away from the current search zone, but the search coordinating agency JACC (Joint Agency of Coordination Centre) has reportedly dismissed it.

The JACC says that the zone where the Australian company claims to have spotted the wreckage, is quiet far from the current search area. Ruling out the possibility of finding the wreckage in the Bay of Bengal, the JACC said, "The joint international team is satisfied that the final resting place of the missing aircraft is in the southerly portion of the search arc”. Malaysia too seemed to echo similar dismissal when Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that “is working with its international partners to assess the credibility of this information.”  Earlier, Hishammuddin had apparently ignored the claim as one of the “speculations” saying, “There have been too many speculations out there ... it is impossible to entertain them all,” the Star online reported.  Also, Australia`s Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Monday that it was "highly unlikely" that any surface wreckage will be found from Flight MH370. The Aussie exploration firm had reportedly started its own search for the missing jet on March 10 and used a slew of technologies including nuclear reactor to analyse the images obtained from satellites and aircraft to scour 2,000,000 sq km of the possible crash zone, says the report.  According to GeoResonance, the company used the technology that generally assists in finding “nuclear warheads and submarines”.  Also, according to an Australian news channel, the company`s claim was based on the detection of such elements in the Bay of Bengal, which go into the making of a Boeing 777 jet, like aluminium, titanium, copper, steel alloys, etc.  Meanwhile, a new more intensified phase of underwater search is set to commence from today, the JACC said. PM Tony Abbott had earlier announced that the new phase will cover an "entire probable impact zone" stretching over 56,000 square kilometres.  The fresh phase of search for MH370 will cover a larger area of ocean floor and will deploy commercial contractors, added the PM.   The underwater search vehicle Bluefin-21 will continue to search areas adjacent to the search zone and will begin its mission 17 when weather conditions improve. Although, the air search has been concluded, a Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion remains on standby in Perth. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board while en route to Beijing.