Australian PM Tony Abbott says there is 'increasing hope' as search plane identifies wooden pallet and strapping belts in Indian Ocean

Images taken by Chinese and French satellites and separate sightings of scattered debris have become the focus of the search in the Indian Ocean for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

On Sunday Malaysia said new French satellite images showed "potential objects" related to the flight in the seas off Australia.



"This morning, Malaysia received new satellite images from the French authorities showing potential objects in the vicinity of the southern corridor," the Malaysian Transport Ministry said in a statement. "Malaysia immediately relayed these images to the Australian rescue co-ordination centre."



The statement gave no details about whether the objects were in the same vicinity as the other possible finds in a vast swathe of some of the most inhospitable sea territory on Earth.

On Saturday images taken on 18 March by a Chinese satellite were released, appearing to show an object measuring 22 metres by 13 metres about 1,550km (960 miles) south-west of Perth. The release of the images coincided with an update from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) late on Saturday that a number of small objects had been visually identified by one of the search planes.

A Chinese satellite image of an object spotted in the southern Indian Ocean that could be wreckage from missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. Photograph: Reuters

“During Saturday’s search activities a civil aircraft tasked by Amsa reported sighting a number of small objects with the naked eye, including a wooden pallet, within a radius of five kilometres,” the statement said.

In a further briefing on Sunday, Mike Barton, the Rescue Coordination Centre chief at Asma, said that the possible debris seen by the search aircraft also included "strapping belts of different lengths".

“We’ve gone back to that area today to try and refine it but are also continuing with another methodical search … to try and give us some clues,” he said.

“The area continues to change as the water movements change. We're tracking that with self-locating datum buoys.”

The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, had earlier announced on Thursday that a “credible” sighting had been made in the Indian ocean, about 2,500km south-west of Perth, based on satellite imagery of two large objects.



The series of announcements has seen a major concentration of effort to scour the southern Indian Ocean for the plane, which went missing over two weeks ago. Eight aircraft have been tasked by Amsa to undertake the search, and vessels from the United States, New Zealand, China and Japan are also aiding in the operation.

None of the sightings have been confirmed, and Abbott said on Sunday that while the findings were “credible leads” they offered “no more than hope” at this stage.

“It is still too early to be definite but obviously we have now had a number of very credible leads, and there is increasing hope, no more than hope … that we might be on the road to discovering what did happen to the aircraft,” Abbott said at a press conference in Papua New Guinea.

Poor weather conditions have further complicated the search mission, and will make the job of observers on the search vessels more difficult. A spokeswoman for the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said on Sunday visibility will continue to be reduced over the weekend.

“Drizzle and associated low cloud and reduction in visibility will continue through the weekend. Another cold front forecast to pass through the area today [Sunday] will bring rain, low cloud, and associated poor visibility,” she said.

Satellite and meteorology experts have already expressed doubts about the prospect of finding the objects in the Indian Ocean believed to be linked to the missing flight, flagging the possibility that the debris could have drifted hundreds of miles since it was first detected due to strong currents. The search area for Sunday has been split into two areas to account for the possible drifts.

As the search continues the families of passengers on board the flight have expressed growing frustration at the progress of the search and the contradictory information that has been released by the Malaysian government. In Beijing on Saturday, relatives accusing were prevented by police from confronting Malaysian officials after a heated exchange at a daily news briefing.