Fishing net snags MH370 search ship

The hunt for Malaysia Airlines MH370 has hit another snag, ­literally.

The hunt for Malaysia Airlines MH370 has hit another snag, ­literally, after a vessel’s underwater communications equipment was caught on a fishing net.

The Havila Harmony — one of three vessels of the Dutch Fugro survey group conducting the underwater search for the Boeing 777 — sustained damage to its HiPaP pole, which is lowered through the hull and carries an acoustic transceiver used to control the autonomous search vehicles.

“Divers confirmed the pole was bent and fouled with fishing net. The vessel was subsequently dry-docked at the BAE Systems ship lift facility to allow the pole to be replaced,” said a statement from the Joint Agency Co-ordin­ation Centre overseeing the international search for MH370.

The vessel is expected to ­be back in the search area early next week after ­repairs in Fremantle.

Earlier this week, the $1 million “towfish”, while being towed underwater by the Fugro Discovery, sank after it struck a mud volcano rising about 2200m above the sea floor in the southern Indian Ocean. The Fugro Equator continues the search.

Australia, Malaysia and China have committed to searching 120,000sq km for the missing aircraft. More than 85,000sq km of the sea floor have been searched so far. MH370 disappeared in March 2014 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board

It is anticipated that the search of the agreed area will be completed around the middle of the year, but should no credible new information that leads to the identification of a specific ­location of the aircraft be ­uncovered, the governments have agreed to not expand the search area.

The search has blown out in cost, and has not been helped by the failure of Malaysia to send a promised survey vessel.