MH370: UK Submarine Concludes Search for Black Box Signal

The Royal Navy submarine has concluded its contribution to the search for the signal from the black box of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

Working alongside the survey ship HMS Echo, Tireless played an important role in the hunt for the black box signal by using her specialist sonar capabilities.

But, with the Australian command assessing that there is no prospect of further acoustic detections associated with the aircraft black boxes, HMS Tireless has been stood down.

Commanding officer of HMS Tireless, Commander R Hywel Griffiths, said:

“I am proud of the part HMS Tireless has played in the operation to find MH370. The only submarine participating, Tireless, with her advanced underwater search capability, is ideally suited to this challenging task. Overcoming some of the most inhospitable sea conditions ever experienced by my crew, we searched 7,000 square nautical miles in a 16-day period.”

“I am also very proud of the professionalism and enthusiasm of my ship’s company. My highly trained and experienced young team of sonar operators were key to this operation, supported by the steadfast commitment of the remainder of my team, some in their very first months at sea.”

HMS Echo is currently returning to port for replenishment having supported the search in recent weeks.

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Press Release, April 25, 2014; Image: UK MoD