Another Indonesian naval ship, the KRI Ajak, has picked sonar signals indicating the presence of metal objects on the sea bed off Mamuju in Central Sulawesi, corroborating the finding earlier made by the Navy's KRI Fatahillah in the search for the Adam Air jetliner that went missing a week ago, a naval spokesman said.
"Last night (Monday, Jan.8), the KRI Ajak's sonar picked up signals showing the presence of metal objects. Now, there are five warships, three Cassa planes and one Nomad aircraft that are studying the signals further," Antara news agency quoted Lt Col Toni Syaiful, spokesman for the Navy's Eastern Fleet Command, as saying in Surabaya, capital of East Java province Tuesday.
The KRI Fatahillah of the Eastern Fleet Command which had been assigned to search for the ill-fated Adam Air plane on Monday at about 3:00 a.m. local time detected the metal objects lying at a depth of 1,050 meters beneath sea level at a point two miles north of Tanjung Rengat, Mamuju district.
"The signals caught by the KRI Ajak have enhanced our belief about the presence of metal objects on the sea bed. But what they really are is still a mystery. We don't know whether they have something to do with the missing Adam Air plane," he said.
Toni said besides the KRI Fatahillah and the KRI Ajak, the sonar signals were now also being studied by three other warships which had a capability to detect objects lying as deep as 2,000 meters below sea level.
In addition, he said, a U.S. warship which was reported to have been assigned to help in the search for the missing plane would also be directed to the location where the signals on the metal objects were received but it was still unknown when the US ship would arrive in Indonesia.
The Adam Air Boeing 737-400 jetliner went missing with 102 people on board on January 1 on a flight from Surabaya to Manado.
(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2007)