Ocean Shield's mission was limited

Because of the deep waters, the submarine robot tasked with finding the wreckage of the Boeing 777 company Malaysia Airlines was forced to cut short its mission to six hours, said the Australian authorities.

The autonomous underwater vehicle, Bluefin-21, equipped with a sonar device, was deployed on Monday night by the Australian ship Ocean Shield, coordinating the search operations for the plane that disappeared on March 8.

"After about six hours of mission Bluefin-21 has reached the depth (4,500 meters) and rose to the surface," said joint coordination center agents (JACC), responsible for organizing the operations.

"The information collected during the six hours of search and recovery are under review," said JACC.

The robot was originally to fulfill a mission of 16 hours. A second task would be carried during the day, if weather conditions are favorable, said JACC.

Bluefin-21 has the shape of a torpedo, 4.93 meters long and is equipped with a sonar.

The area where the Ocean Shield had to probe is only a few square kilometers and is situated at 2312 km northwest of Perth, a city located in western Australia.