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The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has discovered a previously uncharted shipwreck in the Indian Ocean off western Australia, officials have said.
The discovery occurred after a cluster of objects almost 2.5 miles below the surface of the water was detected by sonar equipment on one of the vessels searching for the missing jetliner, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has said.
Work is now underway to identify the ship, which is believed to have been built in the 19th century.
“It's a fascinating find, but it's not what we're looking for,” Peter Foley, ATSB's director of the operational search, said.
A previously uncharted shipwreck discovered in the southern Indian Ocean during the search for flight MH370 (AFP/Getty Images) A previously uncharted shipwreck discovered in the southern Indian Ocean during the search for flight MH370 (AFP/Getty Images) “We're not pausing in the search for MH370, in fact the vessels have already moved on to continue the mission.”
Following the discovery of the debris, authorities decided to take a closer look despite suspicions it did not belong to the Boeing 777, which has been missing since 8 March 2014.
An unmanned submarine was sent down to investigate the wreckage, which revealed a large number of small objects and several larger items.
Cambodian residents light candles as they pray for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at their village in Phnom Penh on 17 March, 2014 (TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP/Getty Images) Photographs of the debris have now been analysed, with experts concluding it belongs to a previously uncharted shipwreck.
The wreck is believed to belong to a cargo ship built in the mid-to-late 19th century, according to Michael McCarthy, a senior maritime archaeologist at the West Austrlian Maritime Museum.
Mr McCarthy has said it could be one of hundreds lost on voyages across the Indian Ocean.
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Show all 30 1 /30In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A family member of a passenger aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 burns incense as he prays at Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Family members of passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 burn incense to pray at Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A family member of a passenger aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 comforts another relative as they gather to pray at Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Relatives of passengers on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cry as they gather at the Lama Temple in Beijing. Chinese relatives marked 100 days since the plane went missing on a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing by offering prayers and burning incense at the buddhist temple
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Relatives of passengers on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 offer prayers at the Lama Temple in Beijing
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A Chinese relative of passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 prays at the Lama Temple in Beijing
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Chinese relatives of passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 hold incense sticks and pray at the Lama Temple in Beijing
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Malaysian relatives Intan Maizura Othman (34) wife of MH370 fligh attendant Hazrin Hasnan holds placard during an event to remember the 100th day of the missing crews and passengers of Malaysian Airlines plane MH370 in Damansara, Selangor
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Malaysian relatives A young relative tries to stick paper planes on a board during an event to remember the 100th day of the missing crews and passengers of Malaysian Airlines plane MH370 in Damansara, Selangor
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Malaysian relatives Pictures of crews and passengers is displayed during an event to remember the 100th day of the missing crews and passengers of Malaysian Airlines plane MH370 in Damansara, Selangor
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 The Phoenix International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Artemis is craned over the side of Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370. Twenty-six nations have been involved in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 since it disappeared more than a month ago
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Chinese women, relatives of Chinese passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines MH370 cry as they wait for Malaysia embassy staff to meet them outside the Malaysia embassy in Beijing. About 50 relatives of Chinese passengers on the plane continued a sit-in protest outside the Malaysian Embassy after officials failed to show up to update them on the search
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A relative of Chinese passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines MH370 speaks to media as he and others wait for Malaysia embassy staff to meet them outside the Malaysia embassy in Beijing
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Relatives of Chinese passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines MH370 push through a police line to march to the Malaysian embassy from a hotel in Beijing. Angry relatives who had been waiting for more than 8 hours in vain for a Malaysia embassy representative to attend their daily meeting marched to the Malaysia embassy and protested through the night
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Chinese police men try to prevent relatives of Chinese passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines MH370 from marching to the Malaysian embassy from a hotel in Beijing
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 Flying Officer Elizabeth Vonfinster, an Air Combat Officer with No. 2 Squadron sits at her station aboard the RAAF E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft during its return from another mission in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Wen Wanchang, whose son was on board the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, cries as he pleads with Malaysian embassy representative Bala Chandran Tharman for answers during a meeting in Beijing
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A relative of a passenger aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is carried by medical personnel and policemen after collapsing during a briefing Lido Hotel in Beijing
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Relatives of Chinese passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, cry during a meeting in Beijing
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A relative of Chinese passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, cries as she asks for answers during a meeting with Malaysia embassy and Malaysia Airlines representatives in Beijing
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A Chinese relative (C) of passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 reacts as he attends a meeting at the Metro Park Hotel in Beijing
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A relative of Chinese passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, demands answers from Malaysian representatives at a meeting in Beijing. Relatives chanted slogans and shouted protests against the lack of meaning answers from Malaysian officials and Malaysia Airlines representatives
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A relative of a passenger aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cries as she speaks to Malaysian representatives during a briefing at Lido Hotel in Beijing. A tropical cyclone was threatening to hamper the search for a missing Malaysian jetliner in a remote stretch of the Indian Ocean, as a submarine drone neared the end of its mission scouring the sea bed with still no sign of wreckage
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A Chinese relative of passengers onboard missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 reacts in front of journalists as she arrives during a briefing at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The effort to find missing flight MH370 is at a "very critical juncture", Malaysia's transport minister said as authorities mull whether to reassess a challenging search of the Indian Ocean seabed that has so far found nothing
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 Commander James Lybrand, Mission Commander ADV Ocean Shield (L) and Chris "Sharkie" Moore, Phoenix team leader, watch the launching of the Phoenix International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Artemis as it is craned over the side of Australian Defense Vessel Ocean Shield before launching it in to the southern Indian Ocean in the search of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 The Phoenix International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Artemis is craned over the side of Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 Leading Seaman, Boatswain's Mate, William Sharkey searching for debris on a rigid hull inflatable boat at sea in the Southern Indian Ocean
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 Boatswain's Mate, Able Seaman Morgan Macdonald (L) observing markers from a Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) P3K Orion at sea in the Southern Indian Ocean. An oil slick in the Indian Ocean is not from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, officials said when insisting underwater search efforts would be 'pursued to their completion'
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 HMAS Perth transiting through the Southern Indian Ocean as an Orion P-3K of the Royal New Zealand Air Force searches for debris for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370 in the southern Indian Ocean
In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 Craig Turner from Phoenix International monitoring the Artemis' depth and speed as the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle scans the ocean floor for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370 in the southern Indian Ocean
He said: “We've got quite a lot of stories about ships that sank in the Indian Ocean mid-voyage and you would be struggling to tell which is which unless you had a complete catalogue of all the ones lost.”
Mr McCarthy said experts had predicted crews searching for MH370 would find the wreckage of other ships, but added it would be a difficult task to identify this ship.
He said those identifying the ship would need to get a closer look and know which ports it was travelling between.
He said: “Being a fairly common type of cargo ship from the 19th century with no obvious cargo remains there, I doubt that anyone would pay the enormous cost of going down to look at it.”
Officials last month announced the search area for MH370 was to be expanded in the Indian Ocean by a further 60,000 square kilometers if the plane was not found by the end of May.
Crews have now covered 75 per cent of the original search area, it has been reported.
Additional reporting by AP
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