Assets of the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and IAF have been deployed in a coordinated search of the area in South Andaman Sea for the missing Malaysian Airliner. Indian Navy has been nominated as the lead service for the coordination of the operation. The joint effort is being coordinated from Maritime Operations Centre of the Indian Navy at New Delhi.
Specific areas have been allocated by the Malaysian authorities for search by Indian ships and aircraft. Presently, two ships of Indian Navy, INS Saryuand INS Kumbhir are combing the designated areas in South Andaman Sea. INS Kesari has replaced INS Kumbhir at around 1500h today for the search as it is also carrying an integral helicopter. In addition, two Coast Guard vessels are also carrying out search along the coastline. Two Dornier aircraft of Indian Navy and Coast Guard are also carrying out aerial search in the vicinity of the Andaman coastline.
The Malaysian authorities have also requested for a search in the Bay of Bengal, expanse of which is approx. 9000 sq km (15 km X 600 Km). This area is approx. 900 km due West of Port Blair. Search in this area would be undertaken by the resources of Eastern Naval Command.
The Joint Operations Room at Port Blair has been activated to monitor the progress of the search operations. The Commander-in-Chief Andaman and Nicobar Command has been nominated as the Overall Force Commander of the Indian Forces.
