KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 — Should the Bluefin-21 robot submersible fail to locate the wreck of Flight MH370 in the Indian Ocean, Malaysia will call for assistance from DRB-HICOM Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd (Deftech) and Boustead Holdings Bhd, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today.
The defence minister said the newly-formed Asset Deployment Committee has identified the two private companies as having the capabilities for deep-water salvage and recovery work.
Other national assetts will also be deployed to support the operation, he added.
“Local companies such as Deftech and Boustead have been tasked to discuss with their international collaborative partners such as SAAB, DCNS, in France and others to identify the relevant assets required for the search operations,” he told reporters at the Royale Chulan Hotel here.
In addition to roping commercial assets, Hishammuddin said the search team will have to relook the data from various radars, satellite communications company Inmarsat and the ping locators.
“By Monday, I think we’ll be in a better position to see what needs to be done and this is at the very highest level, both the two prime ministers are discussing on the timeline,” he said referring to Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Australian counterpart, Tony Abbott.
The Bluefin-21 had failed on its six previous dives. It was redeployed on its seventh mission this morning.
Hishammuddin, who is also acting transport minister, said the next phase of the search would require corporate cooperation, especially from oil companies, which have deep-sea oil rigs.
“With that technology, hopefully when we move on to the next phase, the assets are already available and it will be different from what is already in the site area,” he said.
The Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 239 people vanished from civilian radars in the early hours of March 8, en route to Beijing, China.
Military and satellite data later traced the plane making a turn back west before signals dropped off completely over the remote southern Indian Ocean.
A multi-nation search for the plane has entered its sixth week with little clue to its final location.
