Ocean search for Malaysian airliner finds 2nd shipwreck

The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has discovered a shipwreck from the 19th century.

Last May, another 19th century shipwreck was discovered.

Everyone who was affected by that maritime tragedy is gone.

What would have been an exciting announcement with the original discovery was put on hold while the second search was carried out – and after a closer look it was confirmed the long, twisted shape was that of a shipwreck.

“So many ships have been lost over the years, it is all but impossible to identify vessels or their country of manufacture or port of origin without being able to do more detailed artefact studies”.

Let’s hope not. Something evil may have befallen MH370, and if so, it needs to be exposed.

But further analysis by an autonomous underwater vehicle which captured a high-resolution image of the object proved beyond doubt that it was part of the wreck of a ship.

It is the second wreck found during the hunt. Black rocks scattered across the seabed were thought to be coal. About two-thirds of the targeted area has been searched so far, with the occasional discovery of shipping containers.

All 239 passengers were presumed dead after MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, as it traveled from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It will return to Fremantle for a scheduled resupply visit in early February.

The Australian-led underwater search, which is expected to be completed by the middle of 2016, has scoured more than half of a planned 120,000 sq kms (74,000 sq miles) of seafloor, the agency overseeing the effort said.

A wing fragment from MH370 was found on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean in July 2014, the first concrete evidence to emerge from the search, but nothing has been found since.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is leading the search, which involves ships scanning 46,000 miles of ocean floor the size of Pennsylvania, in coordination with the Malaysian and Chinese governments.