The world's attention may be focused on the HMAS Success, but the ship's commander, Captain Allison Norris, says her crew's attentions are very much on the job at hand.
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Speaking from about 900 nautical miles (1670 kilometres) south-west of Perth, Captain Norris told Fairfax Media by phone that the crew's focus is being channelled by the knowledge they need to provide answers to the loved ones of the people on board the missing flight MH370.
"Obviously they're very conscious of the 239 families who have been waiting expectantly for the last two weeks for any sort of information," she said. "We've been tasked to do whatever we can to try and find any pieces of wreckage of this aircraft and ... help them get the answers they're looking for."
The Success expects to reach the search area by Saturday afternoon but faces rough weather on Sunday. Barring further information from the six surveillance planes working overhead, the ship will head first to the most likely place to find the two objects identified by the satellites, taking into account ocean currents during the six days since the images were taken.
Once there, members of the 220-strong crew will start searching the old fashioned way, standing up on the upper decks with binoculars and scanning the sea. While the ship has sophisticated radar systems, these will be of little use for the kind of debris expected to be left from the plane.
"We will place lookouts around the upper decks and we will slow down and proceed through the area, conducting a search pattern to see if we can see objects or anything resembling wreckage," Captain Norris said.
Weather forecasts suggest that by Sunday, "sea states of three or four" are expected - which in lay terms translates to waves of up to four metres. It won't be easy to spot anything in the sea.
"We are reliant on the weather being kind to us and our visual aides to help us search," Captain Norris said. "As you can imagine, in that state [three to four], the ship is moving around a lot and it's very difficult to maintain that visual look on the horizon. Things will disappear in peaks and troughs and it's hard to maintain, if you catch a glimpse of something, whether it's still there or whether you imagined it."
If the Success does find anything, it has a crane to haul the debris on board, depending on the size and weight. It also has inflatable boats to check out debris closely and even diving equipment - though these will be difficult to use in the kind of weather forecast for Sunday.
It is a prospect, however distant it might appear nearly two weeks after the plane went missing, that there could still be people clinging to life rafts or wreckage. It is a slim hope, but one that the crew is mindful of.
"We are looking at all eventualities including the fact that there may be people in the water," Captain Norris said. "We don't know what sort of state those people might be in ... but we are planning for all eventualities for any sort of recovery."
As the Success was making full steam for the search area, China announced it was sending at least three of its own warships down to help - a fact Captain Norris welcomed.
"I welcome any support from any nation ... to provide assistance wherever they possibly can and I look forward to working with them," she said.
smh.com.au
