India intensifies search for missing Malaysian Airlines plane

NEW DELHI: India today said it has intensified search for the missing Malaysian airliner in the Bay of Bengal by deploying additional naval and coast guard warships and aircraft but so far it has not achieved any success.

"India has further intensified its search efforts for the missing Malaysian Airlines MH 370 with additional naval and air assets being deployed for searching an expanded area in the Central and East Bay of Bengal.

The third day of search efforts saw the deployment of two recently acquired P8I and one C130J aircraft of the IAF in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. The Dornier aircraft of Navy and Coast Guard have also been extensively deployed for the ongoing search operations," a Navy release said.

The Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed six warships, including the ICGS Kanaklata Baruah and Bhikaji Cama, along with the ICGS Sagar which will conduct searches in the Malacca Straits.

The Navy has deployed its INS Saryu and INS Kesari for the operations.

The Vishakhapatnam-based Eastern Naval Command has deployed its aircraft assets including the P8I aircraft for search in the Bay of Bengal.

"Additional ships and aircraft are on standby to augment the search. So far, no sighting or detection has been reported by any of the units," the Navy said.

The Navy has maintained continuous liaison with the operations centres of the Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force so as to coordinate the ongoing multi-national efforts involving over 14 countries, 45 ships and 60 aircraft.

The Navy has coordinated search over an area spanning over 2,50,000 sq km in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal thus far and search operations are expected to continue.