Phoenix International Returns to Search for MH370
Phoenix International has been contracted by the Commonwealth of Australia under the direction of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) to provide deepwater towed sidescan sonar services in support of continuing the underwater search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370 (MH370). Phoenix and teammate Hydrospheric Solutions, Inc. (HSI) will conduct sidescan sonar operations using the SLH PS-60 (ProSAS-60), a 6,000m depth-rated synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) towed system.
Team Phoenix mobilised aboard the Chinese Rescue Salvage Bureau (RSB) vessel Dong Hai Jiu 101 in Singapore in late January 2016. Following a brief port call in Fremantle, Australia, Phoenix is scheduled to recommence search operations in February 2016.
Previously Phoenix participated in the search for MH370 from April to June 2014 using its 5,000m depth-rated autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Artemis. The Phoenix/HSI team was subsequently contracted by Malaysia from October 2014 to June 2015, using HSI's towed SAS system to perform a high-resolution search of the seafloor in the assigned area.
Under a tripartite agreement involving the governments of Australia, Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China, the MH370 search team, under the leadership of the ATSB, has searched more than 80,000 km2 of seafloor and established an extraordinary record of hard work and focused commitment.
