Thursday 20 March 2014 15.15 Search operations in the Southern Indian Ocean for the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft have been completed for the day following night fall.
A major search of a 23,000 square kilometre area south west of Australia was initiated following the discovery of potential aircraft wreckage on satellite images.
Four aircraft were tasked by Australian authorities to search the area while a Norwegian ship has also reached the location.
Cloud and rain hampered today's efforts, with limited aerial visibility in the region.
The Hoegh St Petersburg was on its way from Madagascar to Melbourne when it got a request from Australian authorities to assist in investigating the objects.
Flight MH370 has been missing for 12 days with 239 people on board.
Australian officials said two objects were spotted by satellite four days ago around 1,220 nautical miles (2,260km) southwest of the city of Perth, in the vast oceans between Australia, southern Africa and Antarctica.
The larger of the objects measured up to 24 metres long and appeared to be floating on water several thousand metres deep, they said.
The second object was about 5m long.
"Following specialist analysis of this satellite imagery, two possible objects related to the search have been identified," Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority had said that the area it was scouring had been "significantly refined" following closer analysis of flight MH370's fuel reserves.
"The objects are relatively indistinct.
"The indication to me is of objects that are of a reasonable size and probably awash with water and bobbing up and down over the surface," said Australian Maritime Safety Authority official John Young.
"The largest was assessed as being 24 metres. There is another one that is smaller than that.
"This is a lead, it is probably the best lead we have right now.
"But we need to get there, find them, see them, assess them, to know whether it's really meaningful or not."
In the vast and remote southern Indian Ocean, he cautioned that "they will be difficult to find", with poor visibility expected as the weather deteriorates.
The Boeing 777 vanished in the early hours of 8 March, after veering off course over the South China Sea while en route to Beijing.
No confirmed wreckage from the plane has been found.
Sketchy radar and satellite data had resulted in investigators proposing two vast search corridors, stretching south into the Indian Ocean and north over south and central Asia.
Most analysts had favoured the maritime southern corridor, pointing out the unlikelihood of the airliner passing undetected over nearly a dozen countries.
But the international search has been marked by numerous false leads and Mr Abbott sought to temper expectations.
"We must keep in mind the task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult and it may turn out that they are not related to the search for flight MH370," he said.
Chinese relatives refuse to abandon hope
Meanwhile, the families of Chinese passengers aboard the missing flight have insisted that their loved ones could still be alive.
Wen Wancheng refused to accept the announcement meant he had lost his son, who was a passenger on the flight.
"My son is still alive," said the 63-year-old. "I don't believe the news."
There are 153 Chinese citizens on board flight MH370, whose relatives have been waiting for news at the Lido hotel in Beijing.
Zhao Chunzeng, who declined to identify his relative on board, said families were seeking a confirmed discovery.
"We are waiting, just waiting and we can't respond to news until it is definitely confirmed," he said.
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