Sydney, Safar 21, 1437, December 03, 2015, SPA -- The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is closing in on the "most prospective" resting place, the Australian government said Thursday, according to dpa. Fresh analysis indicated a 44,000-square-kilometre area in the Indian Ocean as a new priority, Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss told reporters in Canberra. The area is located at the southern end of the existing 120,000-square-kilometre search zone. "We're optimistic and hopeful that that search will result in us locating the aircraft," he said, citing analysis released in a report on the website of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Three vessels are now at the site about 1,200 kilometres west of Perth searching with deep-water sonar for signs of the plane. A fourth vessel provided by China will join the search in coming months. Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew disappeared from air traffic radar on March 8, 2014 after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing. --SPA 13:19 LOCAL TIME 10:19 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w