A Vietnam search team has found a 20km oil slick near Ca Mau Cape after seventh day of fruitless searches for the missing Malaysian airliner.
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| Search for the oil slick |
At 9:20am on March 14, helicopter number AN26 spotted the oil slick 25 nautical miles by the southwest of Ca Mau Cape. The National Committee for Search and Rescue directed local authorities to search for the slick.
The search team consisted of 7 Vietnamese ships and 5 helicopters. They are still scouring the mangroves forest to the east and south-east of the missing plane's original flight plan. There are also two aircraft from China, two from Singapore and one vessel from Japan in domestic waters. On March 14, Taiwan also called to ask for permission for 4 vessels and one aircraft to enter Vietnamese territory.
According to the National Committee for Search and Rescue, Vietnam will still search for the missing Malaysian plane. However, it will switch from emergency search and rescue operations to long-term search operations, using a smaller number of vessels and aircraft to scour the sea.
On March 8, the China-bound Boeing 777-200 of Malaysia Airlines suddenly disappeared from radars after more than an hour into its flight with no distress signals or indications of trouble. The plane was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members. Dozens of ships and vessels from about 10 countries have searched for the plane but no debris or survivors were found.
