MH370: Govt to continue searching for flight - Liow

The government will continue searching for the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 in the Southern Indian Ocean, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

Liow said so far, the search-and-rescue team had searched 35 per cent of the 60,000 square kilometre area.

"We hope the plane will be found. We are still searching. Data received from Inmarsat clearly shows that flight MH370 was heading towards the Southern Indian Ocean," he told reporters after the Chinese New Year Open House and official opening of Wisma MCA, here today.

He was commenting on a report in the UK Daily newspaper that said flight MH370 was heading towards the Antarctic.

Liow said each plane had a different signal and data provided by Inmarsat and the Air Traffic Control Centre showed that MH370 was heading towards the Southern Indian Ocean.

Meanwhile, Liow said in conjunction with the first anniversary of the disappearance of MH370, MAS would be holding a ceremony to remember the flight and its passengers. However, Liow said, the government had still not made a decision on what could be done on the day to commemorate the flight and passengers of MH370.

"The government has not decided anything, all decisions must first be discussed with China and Australia," he said.

The Boeing 777 flight MH370 with its 12 crew and 227 passengers disappeared from the radar screen while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, about an hour after departing the KL International Airport at about 12.41 am on March 8 last year.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced on March 24 last year that flight MH370 had ended in a secluded spot in the Southern Indian Ocean.

On Jan 29 this year, the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation announced that the misfortune was an accident based on international aviation rules and all 239 of its passengers and crew perished.

Asked on the increase in Penang ferry fares, Liow said the matter was still at the proposal stage and he would be looking at public feedback.

"Every 10 years, the Penang Port Commission would review the ferry fares, the fares are still low. They were reviewed in 1996, 2005 and now (2015), before we impose any increase in fare, we will first get feedback from the public," he said.