The frustrating search for floating debris continued Monday as Chinese and Australian aircraft and an Australian naval ship all reported objects floating in the wild and remote seas more than 2600 kilometres southwest of Perth, Australia. If those objects prove to be from the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, then it will only confirm a crash at sea. Backtracking after more than two weeks of drift in complex currents and shifting winds to an impact point may prove impossible.
Search area
On Monday, the search continued for floating debris spotted by satellite in the remote seas more than 1000 kilometres southwest of Perth, Australia
Potential debris field
Projections show currents could carry the remains of MH370 into completely different oceans within one year
Erik van Sebille
Thirty years’ worth of scattered buoy movements give a glimpse into the treacherous nature of southern Indian Ocean waters
Scale of search area
Between March 18 and March 24, Australian authorities searched an area larger than the size of Alberta and Saskatchewan combined
Source: Australian Maritime Safety Authority, Adrift.org.au, The New York Times and The Globe and Mail