Faulty equipment on board search vessel Fugro Discovery, which has been scouring the Indian Ocean for any trace of MH370, is to blame
The hunt for Flight MH370 may now finish later than May 2015 after a technical problem affected equipment on board one of the ships searching for the missing plane.
A fault has developed on board search ship Fugro Discovery, which has been scouring the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia for any trace of the vanished jetliner.
Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre, which is organising the search for MH370, had said investigators could finish scouring the so-called priority zone by May if there were no delays with vessels, equipment or weather.
However, JACC today revealed Fugro Discovery had a “system issue” with a component of its search equipment, adding: “Search activities have been suspended while the issue is remedied."
Measures to fix the problem are being trialled and the results will be reviewed.
However, JACC added: “Until that process is complete, the extent of the issue's effect on the progress of the underwater search is unknown."
Other search efforts will continue over Christmas.
The Fugro Equator is scheduled to depart for Fremantle on Wednesday after finishing its current survey, and the GO Phoenix continues its underwater search.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board.
