LANGKAWI: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was being ”a realist” when he said that the search for Malaysia Airlines MH370 ”could not continue at this intensity forever”.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the three nations spearheading the search for the missing jetliner — Malaysia, Australia and China — must continue to give the families of those on board, hope ”that we will find the plane”.

”To some extent, he is right. But the torch is still burning,” he said after a status briefing on the preparation for the 13th edition of the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition.

”What’s important is for us to assure the public, and the families, that we, along with our search partners, will be transparent in everything we do.”

On Thursday, Abbott, in an address to Parliament to mark one year since the plane’s disappearance, said the tempo of the search cannot continue while at the same time, reassuring the families of the missing 239 passengers and crew that Canberra still hopes and expects the ongoing search will succeed. Six Australians were on the fight, which vanished on March 8, 2014.

Authorities have scoured 26,800 square kilometres of the ocean floor in the southern Indian Ocean but have found nothing so far, except some shipping containers. The largest underwater search the world has ever seen to date has so far only covered 40 per cent of the designated search area. It is expected to be completed in May.

Hishammuddin added that on the heels of the first anniversary of the disappearance of the Boeing 777-200ER, it was important to remember that there’s still a long way to go.

”But we remain committed to the families. My heart goes out to the families on board the aircraft and to those involved in this mammoth undertaking.”-nst