[Peetwo]

"She sells seashells on the sea floor??"   

A bit of a development from today's JACC Ops Search Update:

Sonar contacts

During this swing Fugro Discovery will resurvey several Classification 2 contacts identified previously during the underwater search. More than thirty Classification 2 contacts have been identified to date.

The resurvey of Classification 2 contacts will be conducted using the deep-tow at lower altitude and using higher frequency sonar. The higher resolution data from this method will enable the search team to identify the relevance of such contacts without the need to await the arrival of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) which cannot be deployed until the weather improves in the summer months.

The search for MH370 is being conducted thoroughly and to a very high standard and it is important that contacts are comprehensively investigated and considered.

By way of background, there are three classifications for sonar contacts identified during the course of the underwater search:

• Classification 3 is assigned to sonar contacts that are of some interest as they stand out from their surroundings but have low probability of being significant to the search;
  

• Classification 2 sonar contacts are of comparatively more interest but are still unlikely to be significant to the search; and
  

• Classification 1 sonar contacts are of high interest and warrant immediate further investigation.
  
  

A fact sheet containing further information about sonar contacts as well as image examples of each of the classifications is available on the website of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau via: http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/2015...tacts.aspx.

As you can expect this created some MSM interest, e.g. courtesy news.com.au:

MH370 search to revisit more than 30 sites previously ruled out
September 23, 2015 5:34pm

THE search for MH370 will return to more than 30 sites in coming weeks to ensure nothing has been missed.
The latest update on the underwater search reveals the decision to revisit “Classification 2” sites where search vessels have previously made “sonar contacts of interest”.

Despite being rated as “unlikely to be significant to the search” the Australian Transport Safety Bureau now believes they warrant a second look.


Tough work ... Waves crash over the back deck of Fugro Discovery during search for MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean. Pic: Supplied.Source:Supplied

“The resurvey of Classification 2 contacts will be conducted using the deep-tow at lower altitude and using higher frequency sonar,” said the ATSB update.

“The higher resolution data from this method will enable the search team to identify the relevance of such contacts without the need to await the arrival of the autonomous underwater vehicle which cannot be deployed until the weather improves in the summer months.

“The search for MH370 is being conducted thoroughly and to a very high standard and it is important that contacts are comprehensively investigated and considered.”


Found ... objects thought to be shipping containers on the floor of the southern Indian Ocean.Source:Supplied

The decision follows criticism from various experts worldwide about the methods being used to search for the Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 777 that vanished over 18-months ago.
Former French naval officer Paul-Henry Nargeolet who coordinated the search and recovery of Air France Flight 447, spoke out in May about the “inappropriate equipment” being used, and the inexperience of contractor Fugro to perform the work.

Mr Nargeolet questioned the withdrawal of GO Phoenix, which he said was best equipped for a deep sea search.

Australian and Malaysian authorities have indicated more vessels may join the search when the weather improves.


Searching ... Fugro Discovery heading out to the search zone in the southern Indian Ocean yet again. Pic: Supplied.Source:Supplied

Currently only two, Fugro Discovery and Fugro Equator, are involved in the massive operation over 120,000 square kilometres in the southern Indian Ocean.

A little over half the area has now been scoured, and Australia, Malaysia and China have decreed the search will not be extended beyond that zone unless new evidence comes to light.

The discovery of a flaperon from MH370 on Reunion Island in July failed to provide any new leads for search co-ordinators.

Australia has funded the lion’s share of the search, contributing $90 million compared with $40 million from Malaysia and nothing from China.

Of the 239 people on board MH370, six were from Australia and 152 from China.

• • Latest comments:
    
  • Bill Posted at 6:20 PM Today
    
    The French are welcome to volunteer their services for free but I'm sure they wont. It will never be found in this way. Its just another waste of taxpayers money
    

 
Of course for a more informative & balanced take, there is this from PlaneTalking:

MH370 search to revisit 30 objects of interest on sea floor

Ben Sandilands | Sep 23, 2015 6:51PM |

The special AUV requires stable surface conditions for deployment and recovery

At least 30 places or objects of potential interest in the search for MH370 that have already been detected on the floor of the south Indian Ocean are about to be resurveyed by deeper, sharper sonar scans.

In its weekly search update the JACC says checking the objects more closely now will speed up the overall search by eliminating (or confirming) objects that would otherwise remain unchecked until winter sea conditions abate sufficiently to deploy the highly capable Norwegian AUV or autonomous underwater vehicle which has been in storage for five months.

Sonar contacts
During this swing Fugro Discovery will resurvey several Classification 2 contacts identified previously during the underwater search.  More than thirty Classification 2 contacts have been identified to date. 
The resurvey of Classification 2 contacts will be conducted using the deep-tow at lower altitude and using higher frequency sonar.  The higher resolution data from this method will enable the search team to identify the relevance of such contacts without the need to await the arrival of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) which cannot be deployed until the weather improves in the summer months.
The search for MH370 is being conducted thoroughly and to a very high standard and it is important that contacts are comprehensively investigated and considered.
By way of background, there are three classifications for sonar contacts identified during the course of the underwater search:

• Classification 3 is assigned to sonar contacts that are of some interest as they stand out from their surroundings but have low probability of being significant to the search;
  

• Classification 2 sonar contacts are of comparatively more interest but are still unlikely to be significant to the search; and
  

• Classification 1 sonar contacts are of high interest and warrant immediate further investigation.
  

A fact sheet containing further information about sonar contacts as well as image examples of each of the classifications is available on the website of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

The Hugin 4500 AUV was chartered early this year to look into particularly deep, complex or challenging locations where sections of the original priority search zone may not have been fully checked for debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines 777-200ER which disappeared on 8 March 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

The jet was over the Gulf of Thailand and had signed off from Malaysia’s air traffic control zone prior to an intended sign on for its entry into Vietnam controlled air space. However its identifying transponder went dead and an object believed to be MH370 was then seen by military radar to divert across the Malaysia Peninsula and ultimately vanished on a general heading toward the Andaman islands.

Analysis of ‘pings’ from an engine status reporting computer on board the jet send to the Rolls-Royce service centre in Derby via an Inmarsat communications satellite and a ground station in Australia indicate the jet flew southwards into the vastness of the Indian Ocean, but, to glide over a fierce technical controversy, to exactly what part of it remains unknown.

The only piece of wreckage so far  identified as coming from MH370 is a section of the trailing edge of the wing which was recovered from the shores of La Réunion island in the western Indian Ocean in July.

The Australian managed search for MH370 is directed by Malaysia.  When tripartite talks between Malaysia, China and Australia on the progress of the search were held in Canberra earlier this month China was a no show.

Good point Ben - Why does China remain strangely silent & disengaged from all this?
MTF..P2