Liow cautiously optimistic in locating MH370

His sentiments are based on the scientific, statistical and the Inmarsat data which gave a very specific data showing where the flight ended.

At a media briefing in conjunction with the first anniversary of the missing Boeing aircraft here today, Liow said the seven handshakes were very crucial in the quest to locate the aircraft.

"Every handshake (between the plane and satellite system) is a specific data to MH370. Seven handshakes point us to the long arc of the southern Indian Ocean.

"We calculated this based on the speed and fuel of MH370. If the speed is slow, then the plane is at the northern part of the southern Indian Ocean and if the speed is fast, it has ended at the southern part about 30 to 40 degrees south of the ocean," he noted.

Flight MH370, on which were 12 crew and 227 passengers went missing from the radar screen while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, about an hour after it departed from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8. It was scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 6.30am that same day.

In vowing that no effort would be spared to locate the missing aircraft, Liow said the best search team and a big group of experts were engaged to locate the aircraft.

He said the search in the southern Indian Ocean had covered about 26,000sq km or 44 percent of the 60,000sq km of the designated area.

"We are fortunate the weather is quite good and we deployed four vessels – Go Phoenix, Fugro Discovery, Fugro Equator and Fugro Supporter.

"We covered one percent of the search area a day, and this is a big achievement. We are confident of finding the plane in this particular area," he said.

Liow said however, the sea was sometimes very rough with waves as high as 15 to 18 metres and the depth of the sea was between 6,000 and 7,000 metres, could hamper the search operation.

"It is important we continue the search and hopefully, we can complete (the search) by May."

Liow said it was a very transparent seabed search and the report would be uploaded on the website weekly, adding the search team would analyse the photographs and data carefully.

"From the data and photographs we have received, it is very clear they have identified about 10 hard objects which is something near like the plane but we need to analyse. So far, there is no clue related to MH370," he said, adding that objects could be from a container or boat wreckage.

Asked on the next course of action if the MH370 could not be located at the designated zone, Liow said the experts would start evaluating the data and figures to provide guidance.

"We leave it to the expert groups because they are technically strong and professional in these areas. So, we need advice from them. Let's wait for the decision. I don't want to preempt the decision," he said.

The minister noted that the search mission for MH370 was the biggest in history, involving more than 26 countries, and 166 assets including 81 aircraft and 85 vessels.

"We have spent a lot of money. Australia has spent nearly AUD60 million for deep sea search while Petronas has so far spent RM66 million on the Go Phoenix vessel in the southern Indian Ocean. It will be more since the search continues," he said.

The search team comprises Australia Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), United Kingdom Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AIB), Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA), and Thales and Boeing groups.