From the latest Malaysian press conference:

[quote]
At 10:00 this morning, the Prime Minister received a call from the Prime Minister of Australia, informing him that ‘two possible objects related to the search’ for MH370 had been identified in the Southern Indian Ocean. The Australian authorities in Kuala Lumpur have also briefed me on the situation, and the Australian Foreign Minister has spoken to the Foreign Minister of Malaysia.

<Redacted>

Here's a story talking about the Poseidon which claims it got radar "hits" which may or may not be the same objects seen on satellite: http://english.astroawani.com/news/s...an-ocean-32190

Sydney Morning Herald says - Missing Malaysia Airlines plane lacked $US10 upgrade per flight that could have provided crucial satellite data for search

Link

BBC reports HMS Echo joining search http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26659583 (it's in the colomn to the left of the pistures - which aren't live at the moment)

Echo is a survey vessel, more info about her here http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/The-Flee...Ships/HMS-Echo

Not clear where she actually is at the moment but at the top of the page it tells you where she was on the 18th - which isn't the southern part of the Indian Ocean

Norwegian car carrier Hoegh St. Petersburg has reached the area in the southern Indian Ocean off Australia where two floating objects, suspected to be debris from the missing Malaysian jetliner, were spotted, the ship owner’s said on Thursday.

Source

Tonight ( probably now ) there is supposed to be a briefing to the families and next of kin at Cyberview Lodge - source NST

Guardian.co.uk summarizes:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...an-search-zone

Apparently weather conditions in the area are quite rough and it may take some time until something is recovered from the sea.

Just to clarify the Kiwi plane is also an P3 Orion, only the US and India have P8s in service.

Just in from the BBC, some of which confirms the WSJ report (times are UK):
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26659583

British satellite company Inmarsat tells the BBC there were very strong indications 10 days ago that the plane would be found either in the southern part of the Indian Ocean or in Central Asia, and not in the South China Sea or the Malacca Straits where Malaysian authorities continued to search.

15:03: Inmarsat says it learned on 11 March that the plane had continued to fly for seven hours or more and that it was very unlikely to be in the area where the Malaysian authorities were searching. Inmarsat has made the information public because of concerns over the way the search operation has been handled.

15:12: The information Inmarsat has revealed to the BBC about the data it gave to the Malaysia authorities matches a report in the Wall Street Journal published earlier on Thursday. Inmarsat claims the Malaysian authorities continued to search in waters close to the plane's point of departure despite receiving satellite data suggesting that the plane continued to fly for several hours after losing contact with air traffic control.

15:21: Based on information released by British satellite company Inmarsat, Malaysian authorities waited at least three days before publicly acknowledging data that suggested the plane had continued flying for several hours after it lost contact with the ground. Correspondents say the revelations are likely to increase the pressure on Malaysian authorities, who have been accused by the relatives of those on board of withholding information from them.

The Indian P8's would need re-fuelling on the way and the Indian Navy officials are trying to work out the logistics of how they can use their P8s for search in the areas where the area pin-pointed by the AMSA

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2...nes-flight-370

Thanks for that clarification? Where is the US P8 flying from, Diego Garcia? What kind of time on station would that give them?

No. Deigo Garcia is the American base. The India base would be either in Andaman & Nicobar, or the planes may be coming from mainland. The 20 hour round trip quoted in the article implies mainland to me.

The Indian P8s are normally based at INS Rajali, also informally known as Arakkonam Naval Air Station, an Indian naval air station located in the state of Tamil Nadu (southern India).

SingaporeDon, alex_b,

Greetings.

The U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon, Serial #168429/LF-429, participating in the missing MH370 search operations co-ordinated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority is assigned to the Patrol Squadron VP-16 "War Eagles", based at the Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida, U.S.A. VP-16 is currently deployed in the U.S. 7th Fleet (Pacific Fleet), based at the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, where is the area of responsibility supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. The USN Poseidon P-8A #429 first flew in to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on March 15th for the previous search operations and then to Perth, Australia on March 18th...

P-8A Poseidon Arrives in Australia, Continues MH370 Search

INDIAN OCEAN (March 19, 2014) Lt. j.g. Kyle Atakturk, left, and Lt. j.g. Nicholas Horton, naval aviators attached to Patrol Squadron (VP) 16, pilot a P-8A Poseidon during a mission to assist in search and rescue operations for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The US P8 is flying out of RAAF Pearce near Perth. It's where the RAAF AP-3C and the RNZAF P-3K are flying out of.

Regarding the US P8 Poseidon, here's an article in Stars and Stripes which outlines its deployment:

http://www.stripes.com/news/navy/nav...idens-1.273455

As the article relates that the aircraft arrived in Perth 'late Tuesday night', apparently its assignment to that area predated the public announcement of the images of debris.

China's official news agency - Xinhua - reporting that navy (maritime patrol & coast guard/rescue) vessels are heading south toward Aussie after getting reports of the 2 leads but it will take at least 2 or 3 days, previously taking on re-supplies at Singarpore. < Link >

China's Snow Dragon or Xuelong Icebreaker ship that made headlines down in Antarctia is fully prepared to join forces in about 4 days, docked at Perth now waiting for orders to go. It has its own heavy-duty helicopter onboard for SAR < Link >.

Xinhua news also reported that additional aircrafts are being considered by the military to assist in the search and the navy/aerial resources already on station are divided into two groups, one in the north & one heading south.