The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Bluefin-21, is planning for its next mission after it completed a full mission in the search area overnight, the Joint Agency Coordination Center (JACC) said in a latest statement on Thursday. 

Bluefin-21 has searched approximately 90 square kilometres to date and the data from its latest mission is being analysed, said the statement.

Up to ten military aircraft, two civil aircraft and 11 ships will assist in Thursday's search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, said the JACC.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has planned a visual search area totalling approximately 40,349 square kilometres. The centre of the search areas lies approximately 2,170 kilometres north west of Perth.

The oil sample collected by Ocean Shield has now arrived in Perth and will be subject to detailed testing and analysis, said the statement.  

The weather forecast for Thursday is isolated showers and south easterly winds. 

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft carrying 227 passengers, including 154 Chinese, and 12 crew members disappeared mysteriously on March 8 while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Since then, China and more than 20 other countries started the unprecedented international hunt for the plane.

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