MH370: Bay of Bengal lead unlikely, says Hishammuddin

Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein did not believe that the wreckage site of flight MH370 is located at the Bay of Bengal.

He agreed with the statement made earlier by the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) head Angus Houston, that a lead that the wreckage site of flight MH370 could be at the Bay of Bengal was highly unlikely.

"We agree with Angus Houston's statement that this claim is highly unlikely. Many leads in the past have been proven to be negative and this is similar to what we have done before. There's nothing new but we have informed the neighbouring states to verify this claim.

"Currently, there are three naval ships from Bangladesh in the search area and to date, nothing has been found," Hishammuddin told a press conference at a hotel in the city this evening.

When asked if a SapuraKencana vessel will be deployed to the Bay of Bengal, Hishammuddin said he has not decided but will proceed based on corroborated and verified information.

"If we need to deploy assets, especially if the SapuraKencana's assets are going to be responsible, it is going to be expensive. It is also the exact vessel that we are going to deploy in the new phase of our search mission. Any detour will cost delays...14 days exactly.

"In the event that this vessel is deployed and the lead is negative, can you imagine the family members having to go through another episode of hoping and finding closure to it?" he said.

In other developments, Hishammuddin will also lead a trilateral ministerial meeting to be held in Canberra on May 5. The meeting will be chaired by Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss.

Hishammuddin will be accompanied by the heads of three ministerial committees, namely next-of-kin committee head Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin; technical committee head Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi and deployment of assets committee head Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri.

Department of Civil Aviation director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman and Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya will also join the meeting in Canberra.

Senior government officials from China will also attend the meeting.