KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — Despite the increase in assets, authorities are reluctant to divert precious resources away from the present Indian Ocean search to investigate the possibility Flight MH370 may be buried in the Bay of Bengal.

Malaysia’s acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Australian search chief Angus Houston insisted today that the chance of finding wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines plane missing since March 8 was highest in the southern Indian Ocean, rather than the northerly area as claimed by an Australian marine exploration firm earlier this week.

“In the event that the results from the search is negative, who’s going to be responsible for the loss of time?” Hishammuddin replied to a question at a joint press conference here with Houston and Jean-Paul Troadec, special adviser to France’s aviation accident investigation bureau.

Hishammuddin said it would cost money and time to send vessels to verify if the plane wreckage purportedly found in the Bay of Bengal, 5,000km north from the current search area, was debris from the Malaysia Airlines plane that has been missing since March 8.

“Thirdly, it’s going to impact on the emotional roller coaster of the families of those passengers,” he said.

Houston, who is head of the Joint Agency Coordinating Centre that is coordinating the search effort, noted that ships sent by Bangladesh have yet to find anything at the Bay of Bengal.

“I’m confident that the area in the southern Indian Ocean is the right search area,” he said.

Hishammuddin also said he was heading to Canberra, Australia, on Sunday for a trilateral discussion with China and Australia on the deployment of assets, engagement with the families of the MH370 passengers, experts and technical advice from around the world.

“I’m quietly confident that we’re on the right track,” he said.

The search for the Beijing-bound jet carrying 239 people that disappeared from civilian radar after doubling back nearly two months ago, has been thrown off course previously with several false leads.

Australian marine exploration company GeoResonance was reported on Monday saying it found elements on the ocean floor in the Bay of Bengal consistent with material from a Boeing 777 plane.

Investigators believe that the commercial jet crashed in the southern Indian Ocean after running out of fuel, based on satellite analysis by UK-based satellite operator Inmarsat.