SEPANG, March 14 — Malaysian authorities refused today to confirm reports that satellites had picked up signals from MH370 long after it disappeared, and said its only reason for expanding search and rescue efforts to the Indian Ocean was because no sign of the aircraft had turned up elsewhere.

Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein told the daily press conference at Sama-Sama Hotel here that investigators were well aware of the reports, but said they had come from “unnamed officials” and remain “unverified”.

“When I alluded to the search being expanded, basically it is because we have not found anything in the areas we have searched,” he said.

Asked to state what information Malaysia has with regards to the “indication” that Pentagon officials said may show that MH370 had diverted towards the Indian Ocean, Hishammuddin replied:

“I said a lot of unnamed officials are making certain suggestions. I think we need to go deeper into who actually made those statements. At the moment, I don’t have that information.”

Earlier this morning, Reuters reported that satellites had picked up faint electronic pulses from the aircraft after its disappearance, which it said suggested that the plane’s maintenance troubleshooting system were “switched on and ready to communicate” with satellites at the time.

Citing sources, the report said the system “pings” about once every hour and in the case of MH370, around five or six such pulses were heard. This could mean that MH370, which was ferrying 239 people, had continued to fly on for a number of hours after it left the radar screens.

Rescue efforts have now expanded to include the Indian Ocean, following fresh leads that a US experts said shows an “indication” that the plane had flown in that direction.

If proven true, it could make an already daunting operation even more difficult to conduct and coordinate as the sheer size of the Indian Ocean would increase the search area exponentially.

But the chances of finding the plane intact — seven days after flight MH370 was to have landed in Beijing — in the world’s third largest water body are looking slim.

The Indian Ocean has an average depth of 13,002 feet (3,963 metres) while its deepest point, the Java Trench is believed to be at -23,812 feet (-7,258 metres), according to information in the CIA World Factbook.

The Boeing 777 aircraft had enough fuel to fly up to 8.30am on March 8, leaving it with some seven hours of fuel in its tanks when it lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control (ATC).

When it disappeared, the plane was flying 120 nautical miles off Kota Baru in the east coast of Malaysia, between the waters of Malaysia and Vietnam.

The current search operation involving 12 countries and dozens of air and sea vessels are already scouring a watery expanse significantly larger than Malaysia’s total land mass of about 330,000 square kilometres.

A man writing a message of support for the passengers and families of the missing MH370 at the viewing gallery in KLIA, on March 13, 2014. — Picture by Choo Choo May

Hishammuddin today confirmed that search efforts are expanding outwards on both sides of Peninsula Malaysia, with search and rescue teams progressing further east into the South China Sea and westward into the Indian Ocean.

He stressed that unlike regular investigations where teams will narrow down the field, the MH370 search and rescue operation needs to continuously expand its coverage as pressure mounts to find the plane and any potential survivors.

The defence minister acknowledged that they have yet to determine a confirmed plot where the plane would have performed a water landing, but emphasised the need to find the plane and its black box to determine their next course of action.

“We want nothing more than to find the plane as quickly as possible, but the circumstances has forced us to widen our search.

“With every passing day, the possibility to save (the passengers) is slimmer, but we cannot turn back on our search efforts... we will push forward, that is why we are expanding our search area,” he said.