MMEA finds large oil slick off Tok Bali, Kelantan

BACHOK: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) found a large oil slick 100 nautical miles off Tok Bali, Kelantan.

MMEA director-general Datuk Mohd Amdan Kurish said an MMEA patrol ship had been ordered to collect samples.

“Samples will be analysed to determine if the oil came from flight MH370 or a passing ship,” he told a press conference at MMEA’s Search and Rescue (SAR) operations centre at the agency’s Tok Bali base here.

He said MMEA’s SAR mission was focusing on the path taken by flight MH370 up to the point where it lost contact with Malaysian aviation authorities.

Mohd Amdan said that almost all MMEA assets comprising five ships and Royal Malaysian Navy ships had been deployed to 123km east of Kota Baru and 100km north of Terengganu.

He said all helicopters and planes involved in the search mission would operate from the RMAF airbase in Gong Kedak, Terengganu.

Meanwhile, in Sepang, Malaysia is under the spotlight of the international media eager to uncover the mysterious disappearance of the MH370 flight.

Press conferences by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) scheduled every two hours at a hotel located adjacent to the KL International Airport here saw a packed auditorium with little standing room each time.

The foreign press was joined by personnel from the local media.

Every statement made by the DCA or other authorities addressing a press conference was quickly followed by an intense flurry of questions by journalists.

Many members of the press had also booked rooms at hotels near the airport in order to provide extensive coverage.