KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 — Local assets have been deployed to aid the Australian-headed effort to locate Flight MH370 and are expected to arrive in the current search zone by the middle of next month, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said.

In a statement today, Hishammuddin said the Asset Deployment Committee has finalised the list of equipment that will be dispatched for the bathymetric survey and the pursuant sub surface search off the west coast of Australia where the wreckage of the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) plane is believed to be located,

“Instructions for immediate mobilisation have been given and the assets are expected to reach the search area in mid-August 2014. Operational requirements for these assets will be coordinated with the Australian authorities,” he said.

“Malaysia remains committed in the search for MH370. It must be stressed that Malaysia, together with Australia and China are doing our utmost in the search and our top priority remains to look for the missing MH370 and giving closure to the families of those on board MH370.”

Among the assets being sent are the Royal Malaysian Navy vessel, the KD Mutiara; a Prosas Side Scan Sonar (Towed Synthetic Aperture Sonar) jointly supplied by Petronas, DefTech and Phoenix International; and a deep-towed side scan sonar with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) provided by Boustead Heavy Industries together with iXBlue Australia.

These will join the Malaysian ship, Bunga Mas 6 (BM6), which has already been part of the search since April 20.

Hishammuddin continues to oversee the Malaysia’s search for the missing Boeing 777 despite relinquishing the transport portfolio, which he had held in interim, to Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai last week.

Beijing-bound Flight MH370 vanished from civilian radars on March 8, slightly more than an hour after departing from Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Malaysian authorities said radar data indicated that the plane with 239 people on board had diverted from its intended path and headed towards the southern Indian Ocean, which is where the Boeing 777 is believed to have ended its flight.

After two months of intensive search, the hunt was scaled back to an undersea operation in the southern Indian Ocean west of Australia that is expected to take between eight to 12 months.

Putrajaya and MAS have been heavily criticised domestically and abroad for their handling of the disaster, with critics pointing to the government’s slow response and lack of coordination in the search and rescue operations.

The plane’s disappearance has been touted as civil aviation’s greatest mystery.