SYDNEY: The ship involved in the recently halted hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has returned to port in western Australia for the final time.
Officials from Malaysia, Australia and China gathered in Perth on Monday to thank the crew of the Fugro Equator.
The officials defended their decision to call off the search despite recommendations from investigators that it continue.
The three countries officially suspended the nearly three-year search for the plane in the Indian Ocean last week.
Several relatives of the 239 people on board the plane have asked officials to search a new 25,000-square kilometer area immediately to the north of the old search zone that a group of international investigators recently identified as the likeliest resting place for the wreckage.
According to media reports, the head of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said there is a possibility missing the plane is north of the area where investigators have called off the search.
The jet disappeared in March 2014 en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, with 239 people on board, sparking one of the world’s great aviation mysteries.
A joint search mission by Australia, Malaysia and Australia was suspended indefinitely six days ago with little hard evidence of the aircraft’s whereabouts.
ATSB chief commissioner Greg Hood said in Perth that experts have a fair idea where the Boeing 777’s wreckage might be located, despite ending the search.
“It is highly likely that the area now defined by the experts contains the aircraft, but that’s not absolutely for certain,” Hood said, according to Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Asked by reporters why authorities would not expand the search if experts thought they knew where the plane was located, Hood said, “That is a question for governments.”
The ATSB recently reported that the Boeing 777 could be within an area of 25,000 sq km to the north of the 120,000-sq-km official underwater search zone in the southern Indian Ocean.
Malaysia, Australia and China agreed in July to suspend the $145-million search if the plane was not found, or if new evidence that might offer a clue as to its whereabouts was not uncovered, once that area had been checked.
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said “more credible evidence” was needed before moving to the next search area, Australian Associated Press said.
Liow on Monday met a group representing families of the missing passengers in Perth, the West Australian state capital.
Sheryl Keen, from Aircrash Support Group Australia, which represents Australian victims, handed about 100 letters to Liow at what she said was a “positive meeting,” adding that he showed interest in continuing investigations.
About 25 pieces of debris have been collected from Africa’s east coast and more was expected to wash ashore, Liow said.
Three pieces have been confirmed as definitely being from MH370, five are considered “most certainly” to be from the plane and the rest are still being evaluated, he added.
MH370 search crews return to port after fruitless hunt ends
MH370 search crews return to port after fruitless hunt ends
I want answers from my ex-husband, Gisele Pelicot tells AFP
- Gisele Pelicot, the French woman who became a symbol in the global fight against sexual violence, told AFP why she wants to visit her ex-husband in jail and her joy at finding love again
PARIS: Gisele Pelicot, the French woman who became a symbol in the global fight against sexual violence, told AFP why she wants to visit her ex-husband in jail and her joy at finding love again.
In an interview ahead of the publication of her memoirs on Tuesday, she also said she hopes to inspire other rape victims to believe in a brighter future — and to change attitudes along the way.
Her book, titled “A Hymn to Life,” covers the full arc of her 50-year marriage which ended when she discovered that her husband had been repeatedly drugging her and inviting strangers over to their house to rape her.
It will be published in 22 languages.
The title of your book in French is “And the joy of living.” Have you found joy again?
“I’m doing better. After the trial (of her husband and 50 other men in 2024), I took stock of my life and today I am trying to rebuild on this field of ruins.
Despite all these ordeals, even in the darkest periods, I have always sought flashes of joy; I am looking toward the future, toward joy. I know this may surprise some who expect to see me in tatters, but I am determined to remain standing and dignified.”
Some describe you as an icon. Do you embrace that status?
“I do not use that word. I think my story has become a symbol. I know where I come from and who I am. It seems to me that we do not suspect the strength we have inside us until we are forced to draw on it, and that is also what I would like to say to victims.”
Why did you write this book?
“I needed to bear witness to my life journey, to address all those who supported me; it was a way of responding to them. Writing this book with (French author) Judith Perrignon, in whom I had complete trust, was both painful and fascinating.
Beyond the case itself, it retraces my life, the journey of three generations of women: my grandmother, my mother and myself. Their example explains my strength because I experienced tragedies very young. When you lose your mother at age nine, you grow up faster than others.”
Have you had professional psychological help to overcome your trauma?
“Of course, I could not get through this alone. How do you sort through 50 years of memories tainted by this series of crimes? I lived for half a century with Mr. Pelicot and I have no memory of the rapes, only the memory of happy days.
I cannot throw my whole life in the bin and tell myself that those years were nothing but a lie. If I did that, I’d collapse.”
At the end of the book, you announce your intention to visit Mr.Pelicot in prison. Why?
“I would like to do it for myself. That visit would be a stage in my reconstruction, an opportunity, for the first time since his arrest in November 2020, to confront him face to face.
How could he have done this to me? How could he have put our entire family through hell? What did he do to (our daughter) Caroline? He may not answer my questions, but I need to ask them.
For the moment, no date has been set for the visit. I do not think it will take place before the end of the year.”
In the book, you speak about your relationships with your three children. Where do they stand?
“It is wrong to think that such a tragedy brings a family together. It is impossible. Each of my children is now trying to rebuild as best they can.
Caroline’s suffering devastates me. She is in a state of anger that I do not share. And there is this doubt (about whether she was raped by her father) that condemns her to a perpetual hell.
I do not question her word, but I do not have the answers. Today, our relationship is calmer and I am happy about that. I will try to support her as best I can.”
Do you intend to remain a public figure?
“I am in my 74th year. I long for calm. I am not a radical feminist; I am a feminist in my own way. I know there is still a long way to go, despite progress on consent. I leave it to the younger generations to change this patriarchal society.
We can pass all the laws we want, but if we do not change mindsets, we will not succeed. That therefore begins above all with the education of our children. Parents must get involved.”
You are about to begin a tour to present your book. With what message?
“A message of hope. After hardship, you can once again allow yourself happiness and be happy. That is what I am doing. I am lucky enough to love again — it is magnificent. I think a life without love is a life without sunshine.”
