Australia wants MH370's cargo list after pallet find

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) has asked Malaysia Airlines to release the cargo manifest of its missing Flight MH370 to assist with the search operation.

"The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) says it has requested a cargo manifest for flight M370 from Malaysia Airlines," reports BBC.

The request comes as the search operation in the Indian Ocean began spotting objects since yesterday but is unsure whether they are related to the ill-fated aircraft.

Amsa today announced they spotted what to be a cargo wooden pallet with strapping belts of different colours some 2,500km southwest of Perth but had yet to get a close-up verification of the objects.

The agency's Emergency Response Division chief John Young (left) told a press conference today the items could be from an aircraft but had an equal likelihood of coming from ships.

Pallets are commonly used as support for transported goods in cargo.

The manifest is expected to give the search operation a better idea in identifying objects they spot in the Indian Ocean if they indeed came from MH370's cargo.

 

The Malaysian authorities to date have refused to release the full cargo manifest, insisting that the document is with the police which is conducting its investigation into the cause of the plane's disappearance.

 

However, Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya on March 18 revealed the aircraft was carrying "three to four tonnes" of mangosteen.

 

Four days after that, he also confirmed press reports that the plane was carrying some small lithum-ion batteries but stressed they were transported according to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rules.