Cost of searching not a concern: Australia

[PERTH] Australia said yesterday that cost was not a concern in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, after the mini-sub plumbing the depths of the Indian Ocean for wreckage ended its ninth mission empty-handed.

Australia is leading the multinational search for the Boeing 777 which vanished on March 8 carrying 239 people, and is bearing much of the cost of the mission expected to be the most expensive in aviation history.

"There will be some issues of costs into the future but this is not about costs," Defence Minister David Johnston told reporters in Canberra. "We want to find this aircraft. We want to say to our friends in Malaysia and China this is not about cost, we are concerned to be seen to be helping them in a most tragic circumstance."