DHAKA: The underwater search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is moving to an area farther south in the southern Indian Ocean, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said Thursday.

Describing the next phase of the hunt for the missing plane as a "very challenging and complex operation," Truss said an international team of experts had chosen the next area to be searched after going over all the available data, reports CNN.

The 60,000 square kilometer zone has already been the subject of aerial and visual searching for wreckage and debris but nothing was found on the surface there, he said.

Flight 370 disappeared over Southeast Asia on March 8, and searchers have so far found no trace of the Boeing 777 or the 239 people aboard, making it one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history.

The flight had been scheduled to go from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.

Truss said it was "highly, highly likely" that the plane was on autopilot when it flew into the southern Indian Ocean.

BDST: 1226 HRS, JUN 26, 2014