MH370: Search for missing plane not forgotten - Aussie Deputy PM

The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has not been overshadowed by last week's downing of the airline's MH17 aircraft, says Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss.

"I want to assure the families of those on board MH370 that we have not forgotten the importance of maintaining the search for that aircraft. We are continuing that search uninterrupted," Truss was quoted by the Australian Associated Press (AAP) as telling reporters in Darwin on Friday.

On March 8, the Boeing 777-200 aircraft disappeared with 239 people on board, and its flight path is thought to have ended somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean.

But the world has also been following the suspected shooting down of Flight MH17 last Thursday, leaving all 298 people on board dead.

AAP quoted Truss as saying that the Chinese and Australian vessels were mapping out the sea surface in the next area of the Indian Ocean to be scoured.

He added that Canberra was close to issuing a tender for the next-stage sonar search of a 60,000 sq km area.