"We will attempt to allocate a search sector to the ship. Its presence will strengthen our search effort as the two Japanese vessels have finished their mission in the search area," he informed journalists here.
The Japanese ships JS Ohnami and JS Takanami had left the "mission area" in the waters of Karimata Strait near Pangkalan Bun in Central Kalimantan Province for the Philippines, he noted.
According to Soelistyo, the reduction in the number of ships in the mission area, such as the two Japanese vessels, was based on analysis and evaluation after taking into consideration the efficacy of the presence of forces in the search area.
Chinas Transportation Ministry earlier stated that seven experts have joined the Nan Hai Jiu 101s mission in Indonesia, and the ship has the necessary equipment on board to carry out underwater search.
Indonesian navy divers had recently recovered the tail section of AirAsia Flight QZ8501, which crashed with 162 people on board during its flight from Surabaya, East Java, to Singapore on December 28, 2014.
Despite the discovery of the ill-fated jets tail, the black box has yet to be found as of Friday, 3 p.m. local time, while the body count of the victims has, so far, reached 48.
(Reported by Martha Herlinawati Simanjuntak/Uu.R013/INE/KR-BSR/F001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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