MH370 search vessel inexplicably turns off tracking system

More mystery from somewhere in the south Indian Ocean. A month ago tomorrow, Walt reported that a US company, Ocean Infinity, had sent a specially equipped vessel out from Durban, South Africa, to search again for the remains of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which vanished in mysterious circumstances on 8 March 2014.

Previous searches in an area to the west of the Australian coast turned up nothing. A decision to stop looking was made in December of 2016, but late last year the authorities decided to let Ocean Infinity have a go.

While the first search was in progress, debris from the Boeing 777 had washed up on the shores of South Africa, Moçambique and Réunion Island, in the southwestern part of the Indian Ocean, leading Walt and many others to suggest that the searchers would do well to look to the northeast, to the area around Diego Garcia, the site of a huge American military base. So guess where the search ship, the MV Seabed Constructor, headed? You got it! Due east, right back to the area that had already been scoured without success.

But when they reached the search area, something happened. This weekend News.com.au, an Australian news site, reported that the Seabed Constructor mysteriously switched off its Automatic Identification System (read: tracking system) near an object which the first search teams had not only spotted, but tentatively identified as the fuselage of MH370. Here's the sonar image.

What do you think, boys and girls? Does it look like the wingless body of an aircraft to you? Me either. Turns out that's now thought to be the wreck of the Peruvian transport vessel SV Inca, which vanished en route to Sydney in 1911. Picture: State Library of South Australia

THE state-of-the art vessel tasked with finding missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 mysteriously switched off its Automatic Identification System (AIS) for more than three days, sending some observers into meltdown. But it seems the searchers decided to stop for a better look. Who knows? The sunken ship might be filled with treasure!

But was that the real reason why the search vessel "went dark" last Wednesday? Might it have just been a case of someone adjusting the AIS system settings ahead of departing for Fremantle (Australia), or was it a deliberate action because something else is going on? Is it possible that someone aboard the Seabed Constructor read Walt's advice and had another think about the proposed search area?

People following the progress of the search online have also been made with the missing plane itself. MH340 vanished from radar after its aircraft communications, addressing and reporting system (ACARS) was switched off less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur. One Reddit user commented, "Rogue captain?" Another replied, "If it starts pinging in the Malacca Strait that would be something."

Like the Indian Ocean itself, the mystery deepens. Your comments are welcome. If you know something, tell us! If you're on the landing page and have something to say, click on the headline of this post, and a comments window will open. You never know who's reading WWW!