KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — Putrajaya has approached four Malaysian firms for advanced surveillance technology to aid in the fruitless search for Flight MH370 that vanished almost two months ago, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today.

The acting transport minister said searchers have been discussing with oil companies Petronas and SapuraKencana, as well as defence suppliers Deftech and Boustead, on deploying assets in the hunt for the missing jet, such as underwater equipment and support vessels.

“It is important for all Malaysian entities to be on the same page, working as one team in flying the Malaysian flag to find MH370,” Hishammuddin told an MH370 press conference here today.

Among the assets needed include unmanned submersibles, remotely-operated underwater craft, and deep-ocean sonar scanners.

Officials have said recently that more sophisticated assets may need to be brought in for the so-far fruitless search of the Indian Ocean seabed for wreckage.

An intensive aerial search for surface wreckage from MH370 officially ended on Wednesday, with ships also moving out of the remote search zone.

Earlier, Hishammuddin said a SapuraKencana vessel was ready to be deployed to join the search efforts, but authorities were still undecided if it will be sent to investigate a claim that wreckage from the plane may have been found in the Bay of Bengal, some 5,000km from where searchers were now looking.

“We have to be responsible in this decision, as it’s the exact vessel we are going to deploy in the new phase of search. Any detour will cost 14 days exactly,” Hishammuddin added.

The Beijing-bound MH370 disappeared from radar on March 8 with 239 people on board.