Jiaolong 'up to MH370 salvage task'

China's deep-sea manned submersible Jiaolong is capable of salvaging the black box flight recorders from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, according to an official.

Liu Feng, director of the National Deep Sea Center, a government-funded organization in charge of the submersible's management and maintenance, said Jiaolong is ready for the salvage operation.

Chinese patrol ship Haixun 01 picked up electronic pulse signals in the Indian Ocean on Friday and Saturday.

Liu said that after the black boxes from flight MH370 are located Jiaolong can play an important role in salvage work and in evaluating deep-sea conditions.

Xiangyanghong 09, the mother ship of Jiaolong, will start a 40-day scheduled mission to the northwest Pacific in May or June before going to the southwestern Indian Ocean in November.