The yearlong, $48 million search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jet has at last uncovered wreckage, albeit likely not that of the missing plane.

The Australian-led search team on Wednesday released images appearing to show a previously unrecorded shipwreck 3,900 meters below the surface of the southern Indian Ocean.

It said one of four ships involved in the hunt for wreckage from Flight MH370 detected a cluster of sonar contacts in the southern part of the search area and directed a companion vessel to send down a remotely controlled submersible for a closer look.

¡°We were cautious about this,¡± said team head Peter Foley. ¡°There were characteristics of the contact that made it unlikely to be MH370, but there were also aspects that generated interest.¡±

In a statement, the team said the images were found to show a debris field apparently from a sunken vessel, with an anchor among the identifiable objects. It said the wreck was previously uncharted and the imagery would be provided to marine archaeologists for possible identification.

¡°It¡¯s a fascinating find, but it¡¯s not what we are looking for,¡± Foley said.

¡°This event has really demonstrated that the systems, people and the equipment involved in the search are working well. It¡¯s shown that if there¡¯s a debris field in the search area, we¡¯ll find it.¡±

MH370 disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014, during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Analysis of satellite communication records suggested the plane departed its scheduled route and flew toward Antarctica.

Australia and Malaysia have been co-funding a mapping operation of a strip of deep-sea ocean bed in the hopes of finding wreckage. Dutch marine survey company Fugro is contracted to do much of the work.

Australian news service news.com.au on Wednesday reported that the government in Canberra had allocated 50 million Australian dollars ($39.8 million) for the search in 2015-2016 and that it expects Malaysia to provide a similar amount. The report said this would bring Australia¡¯s total financial contribution to A$79.6 million ($63.4 million).