Search activities will continue today in the Southern Indian Ocean within the Australian Search and Rescue Region.

Assets that will be involved in today's search include a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P3 Orion, a US Navy P8 Poseidon aircraft and a Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion.

In total, four RAAF AP-3C Orion aircraft have been assigned to the search task being coordinated by AMSA.

Five merchant ships have responded to a broadcast to shipping issued by RCC Australia on Monday night.

Four merchant ships have transited through the area over the past two days with a fifth ship expected to arrive in the area this afternoon.

To date, neither the ships nor the aircraft have reported sighting anything in connection to the aircraft.

This area is vast and remote. It is a challenging search operation and AMSA continues to hold grave fears for the passengers and crew on board the missing flight.

Media note: A media kit for this incident has been developed. This media kit includes:

• stock images of search operations from RAAF AP3C Orion aircraft like the ones currently being used in the search. These images are provided by the Australian Defence Force
• a fact sheet on the AP3C Orion provided by the Australian Defence Force
• B-roll/Overlay footage of AMSA's Search and Rescue officers coordinating the search for MH370 from the Rescue Coordination Centre in Canberra (HD and SD formats)
• AMSA charts showing the search area and its relation to Australia in print and television friendly formats
• a statement from General Manager of AMSA’s Emergency Response Division John Young on search operations on 19 March 2014.

Media enquiries: media@amsa.gov.au