AN OTTO MARINE vessel (above) set off from Singapore last Tuesday (9 Sept) on a very special mission -- a deep-sea hunt for MH370 in the remote southern Indian Ocean.
The vessel GO Phoenix was contracted by Malaysia, and is one of three vessels taking part in this new search for the Malaysian Airlines aircraft that went missing six months ago.
Built by Singapore-listed Otto Marine in its Batam shipyard and christened just last year, GO Phoenix is a 21,000 bhp ultra large AHTS (anchor handling tug supply vessel).
See: OTTO MARINE Christens Ultra Large AHTS - Go Phoenix
The other two vessels in the search are Fugro Discovery and Fugro Equator whose owner, Netherlands-based Fugro NV, won an Australian government tender for the job.
These vessels will initially be sent to scour three different zones.
They will use towed vehicles equipped with side scan sonar, synthetic aperture sonar, multi-beam echo sounders and video cameras, said an Aug 28 communiqué issued after a meeting of ministers from Malaysia, Australia and China.
For more details on the search, read The Economist report: Deep Secrets
Recent NextInsight story: OTTO MARINE: Chartering fleet improvements paying off
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