India's Coastguard Joins Search for Missing Malaysia Plane

India's Coastguard Joins Search for Missing Malaysia Plane

India's coastguard joined the aerial search Wednesday for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 239 people off the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, a senior officer told AFP.

A Dornier aircraft belonging to the coastguard set off mid-afternoon local time to scour the eastern side of the Andaman islands on orders from the Indian government, the inspector general of the coastguard service said.

"We were directed to take part in the search operations up to the eastern fringes of the exclusive economic zone of the Andaman islands," V.S.R. Murthy told AFP. "We are looking into that area for any clues to the missing airliner," he added.

The Andaman and Nicobar islands are Indian territory, although they are at least 1,000 kilometers from the mainland and are closer to the coast of Myanmar.

The hunt for MH370, involving the navies and air forces of multiple nations, had focused on an area off Vietnam's South China Sea coast where it last made contact Saturday on a journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

But Malaysian authorities said Wednesday they were now expanding the search to the Andaman Sea north of Indonesia, hundreds of kilometres away.

India's airforce was also on standby to search for the missing plane, which was carrying five Indian nationals among its passengers, as the president said the country was ready to provide any help needed.

Indian Air Force spokesman Gerard Galway said planes were ready to deploy to scour the waters west of Malaysia.

"We have not received any task [as of now] but in case there is a requirement, our aircraft will be deployed to assist in the search operations," Galway told AFP.

President Pranab Mukherjee said the country was ready to offer any assistance required and that officials were in constant contact with Malaysia over the plane's disappearance.

"We appreciate the efforts of the government of Malaysia to locate the missing aircraft and are ready to provide any help needed," Mukherjee's office said in a statement.

A foreign ministry spokesman said Malaysia had accepted India's offer of assistance and details on what form that might take were still being worked out between the two sides.

"We are [still] coordinating details with the Malaysian side," spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said.

Mukherjee's office said the president had spoken with Malaysia's king, expressing his "deep concern and sympathy" over the missing jet. (*****)

Created by:Agence France-Presse, New Delhi 

Posted @ Wed, March 12 2014, 10:28 PM 

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RI Passes on Unseaworthy Russian Subs

RI Passes on Unseaworthy
Russian Subs

“After we visited the location, we came to the conclusion that the second-hand submarines were not seaworthy,” he said.

“The submarines have been idle for two years. Their engines and other components are damaged. It will be too costly to repair them.”

Marsetio’s comments came at a display of the Navy’s latest primary weapons systems, which included warships, helicopters and missiles, at Madura Pier, Ujung, Surabaya, the Eastern Fleet headquarters.

He added that the Navy was concentrating on the building of three South Korean-made Chang Bogo-class submarines. The third submarine will be built at state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL in Surabaya as part of a transfer-of-technology from Korea.

Meanwhile, President SusiloBambangYudhoyono, who was present at the display to inspect the Navy’s hardware, called for the building of 12 submarines by local shipbuilders to be sped up after the Chang Bogo project was completed.

Indonesia’s current submarines, the U-206 type KRI Cakra-401 and KRI Nanggala-402, were made by German shipyard Howaldtswerke in Kiel, Germany, and were commissioned in 1981. The Chang Bogo itself is a derivative of the German-made U-209 submarine.

“We do not want a war but if we have to fight to defend our sovereignty, then we are ready,” Yudhoyono said during his inspection.

The showcase also featured a flyover involving maritime patrol versions of the CN-235 and NC-212, which were manufactured by state-owned airframer PT Dirgantara Indonesia, and an Australian-made GAF N-22 Nomad patrol aircraft.

Marsetio briefed the President on the procurement of warships, including four Diponegoro-class SIGMA corvettes, four Makassar-class landing platform docks (LPDs), four 40-meter Clurit-class fast missile boats (KCR-40s) and two 43-meter fast patrol boats (PC-43).

The corvettes were built in the Netherlands, one of the LPDs in South Korea and the other LPD, the KCR-40 and the PC-43 were built in Indonesia by local shipbuilders.

Marsetioadded that the Navy was waiting for three British-made Bung Tomo-class multi-role light frigates (MRLFs), as well as three KCR-60s and two more PC-43s.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister PurnomoYusgiantorosaid that the Marine Corps had received 54 Russian-made BMP-3F amphibious infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) and one BREM-L recovery vehicle as well as 15 LVT 7A1 amphibious vehicles that were donated by Korea.

The Navy has also procured two CN-235-220 MPAs, four Beechcraft G-36 Bonanza training airplanes, three Bell 412-EP helicopters as well as Russian-made Yakhont and Chinese-made C-802 anti-ship missiles.

Since some of the procurements were still in process, Purnomo said some craft were displayed as models, such as three Korean-made Chang Bogo-class submarines.

“These primary weapon systems are displayed as accountability to the public on the Navy’s force development,” he said.

A similar show had been held at the HalimPerdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta, while a display for the Army is scheduled later this month in Bandung.

Posted by WahyoeBoediwardhana, "The Jakarta Post, Surabaya" Thu, March 13 2014, 9:26 AM

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