Australia finds possible lead on MH370

Debris spotted in southern Indian Ocean

In this March 16, 2014 satellite imagery provided by Commonwealth of Australia - Department of Defence on Thursday, March 20, 2014, a floating object is seen at sea next to the descriptor which was added by the source. Australia's government reported Thursday, March 20, 2014 that the images show suspected debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner floating in an area 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) southwest of Perth Australia. (AP Photo/Commonwealth of Australia - Department of Defence)

Ships and aircraft on Thursday intensified the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight deep in the southern Indian Ocean, far to the west of Australia, after satellites picked up images of debris that officials said may be linked to the Boeing 777.

Grainy images released by the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation showed what appeared to be debris in the vast and remote waters. One object was 24 metres long, and a second was five metres long.

A Norwegian ship that reached the area had not yet found any object likely to have come from flight MH370, an AFP report said.

The images, captured on March 16, came to light only on Thursday because of the volume of images that had to be analysed. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said a daylong search was done over a 23,000-square km area, around 2,500 km southwest of Perth.