The images were taken on March 23, and were sent to the Australian Rescue Coordination Centre in Perth yesterday immediately after MRSA’s analysis.

He described the images as an ‘incredible feat’ because the satellite involve had to peer through gaps in cloud cover to spot the ‘white dots’ that are suspected to be debris.

He explained that since multiple satellites have spotted objects in the area, at the very least there is corroboration that there is some kind of object floating in that part of the ocean.

This makes it the most credible lead on the missing Boeing 777-200ER aircraft’s location to date.

“If it is confirmed to be MH370, at least we can then move on to the next phase of deep sea surveillance, search and... rescue, probably. Hoping against hope,” he said.

As for the search and rescue effort today, Hishammuddin said Australia has divided the search area into two sectors: East and West.

Six aircraft are being sent to each sector today, from Australia, China, New Zealand, USA, South Korea, and Japan.

The Australian naval vessel HMAS Success, which had been diverted south to avoid yesterday’s storms in the search area, has resumed searching the West Sector, while the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long was deployed to the west.