Search leader confirms suspected signals detected by both Australian, Chinese vessels
PERTH. KAZINFORM Chief Coordinator of the multinational search team hunting for the missing Malaysian flight MH370 on Sunday confirmed that vessels from both Australia and China had detected suspected pulse signals in recent days, saying more ships and planes are deployed for further verifications and he is satisfied with the current cooperation with China.
Angus Houston, head of the Joint Agency Coordination Center ( JACC) told a press conference that he was well advised by the Chinese side about the "ping" picked up by the search vessel Haixun 01 in the past two days, Xinhua reports.
According to media reports, experts onboard the Haixun 01 detected a pulse signal twice with a frequency of 37.5 kHz per second, which is the same as emitted by flight recorders.
Houston told reporters Haixun 01 redetected the signals for 90 seconds Saturday within just 2 km of the original detection following its discovery on Friday.
Regarding a query whether China had informed Australia on Friday when its ship received the signal for the first time, Houston said he was "completely comfortable" with the level of information being provided by the Chinese government and was "very satisfied" with the level of consultation between the two countries.
Meanwhile, he disclosed the Australian ship Ocean Shield which has U.S. underwater search equipment on board also received separate "acoustic event" on Sunday some 300 nautical miles away from the location of Haixun 01.
However, Houston urged caution on both new findings because they have not been verified yet, saying the search team treats every reported lead very seriously and that's why Australian airforce plane and more ships are directed to assist further investigation.
"The information has been passed through the Chinese authorities to the Australian authorities with a request to do further investigation of the detection, that's why (British) HMS Echo and Australian vessel Ocean Shield which has special equipment which will be useful in the circumstances are proceeding to the location of Haixun 01," said Houston.
Echo will arrive in the location in hours and the Ocean Shield would be there in more than 24 hours since it needs to investigate the signal found by itself first, he said.
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