Norwegian deep sea robot being checked out before joining the MH370 search: Kongsberg photo

Australia is withdrawing a crucial automated deep sea search vehicle from the search for MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean for the duration of the winter.

The shock announcement may be justified by the deterioration in conditions, but will inevitably cause controversy over a lack of spine or determination from critics of the conduct and methodology of the search.

This is what the Australian agencies responsible for managing the search said in their weekly update today (Wednesday 6 May).

The search plan has been modified to enable continuous search operations during winter and to ensure that the entire 120,000 square kilometre area is searched as effectively as possible. Safety of the search crews also remains a priority. Searching in the expanded area will commence as soon as possible and will focus search efforts in the south, to take advantage of the last of the better weather in that area.

Over 75% of the seafloor in the existing search area has been searched so far.

The onset of winter weather is already affecting AUV operations, with rough sea conditions making it difficult to launch and recover the AUV. The decision has been made to suspend AUV operations in the search area during the winter months. As a result, Fugro Supporter will withdraw from the search on completion of her present swing.

What a gutless, mealy mouthed evasive way of saying Australia is withdrawing its capability to promptly resolve any doubts about possible MH370 wreckage it might find over the southern winter.

This creates the possibility that the reduced search activity that will conducted during the winter months discovers  objects that merit close up examination as possibly coming from the missing Malaysian Airlines 777 that will have to be deferred for final verification.

Not just after the end of the winter months either, but quite possibly the tempestuous ocean conditions that plague the south Indian Ocean through the spring months and early into summer.

It’s a situation that would clearly be totally unacceptable to China and many of the next of kin of the 239 people who were known to be onboard MH370 when it disappeared while flying between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing on 8 March 2014.

The ATSB had been optimistic that it will find MH370 in the areas chosen by the the strategic search committee in Kuala Lumpur.  That’s why it chartered Fugro Supporter and the Kongsberg HUGIN 4500 AUV. What if its optimism is confirmed during the limited winter search?

Just what sort of fiasco are the fools in the ATSB that botched the Pel-Air crash inquiry cooking up in relation to confirming or dismissing the discovery of potential wreckage from MH370 during this winter semi-recess?

Important questions arises for the Abbott Government and acceptance of anything Kuala Lumpur tells it about MH370? Starting with whether it has intelligence as to whether or not the Malaysian government, which has been caught lying about the accident from day one, has a real commitment to finding the jet, rather than hoping it is never, ever brought to the surface?

This is the first story about the deployment of the world’s best AUV or automated underwater vehicle earlier this year for the specific purpose of eliminating doubts as to whether or not parts of MH370 had been seen but not appropriately recognised by the towed side scanning sonar devices.

We need to knew if ‘winter weather’ is being used as an excuse for not retaining the capacity to prove or disprove that suspicious objects in deep and difficult parts of the search area are from MH370.

Today’s search bulletin can be read in full here. The quality of the latest graphic of the search area is so poor you will need to greatly enlarge it to make sense of the detail, as shown in the example below.