Amver ship searching for missing Malaysian plane

The Amver participating car carrier Hoegh St. Petersburg is actively searching an area of the Indian Ocean where Australian maritime authorities have seen possible debris on satellite imagery.

The Norwegian flagged ship diverted to search for debris at the request of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. The 751 foot ship was reportedly sailing from Madagascar to Melbourne when it was requested to search for the missing plane.

The Hoegh St. Petersburg reported to the Amver center "VESSEL PROCEEDING TO RENDER SAR ASSISTANCE TO MISSING AIRPLANE AS INSTRUCTED BY RCC AUSTRALIA". The crews of Amver ships are skilled maritime professionals who routinely save people at sea. Searching for missing aircraft, however, is another service they can render. In fact Amver ships were the first to search for the missing Air France flight in 2009.

Amver is a global search and rescue system administered by the United States Coast Guard. You can learn more about what it is and how Amver works here.

The Hoegh St. Petersburg, managed by Hoegh Fleet Services of Oslo, Norway, enrolled in Amver on December 1, 2009 and has earned four awards for participation.

photo credits: marinetraffic.com