SYDNEY — A second ship was preparing to join the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in a remote patch of the Indian Ocean today, as Malaysia’s defense minister expressed confidence the plane will be found.

The Discovery, provided by Dutch contractor Fugro, was scheduled to arrive in the search zone about 1,100 miles west of Australia today, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said. The GO Phoenix, a Malaysian ship that has been combing the area since early October, is in the Western Australian city of Fremantle getting fresh supplies.

Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who was in Australia to greet the GO Phoenix during its return to port, said everything possible was being done to find the Boeing 777, which disappeared on March 8 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

“We must continue to hope because sometimes hope is all we have,” he said. “We will find MH370.”

The search ships are dragging sonar devices called towfish through the water about 330 feet above the seabed to hunt for the wreckage. The towfish, which are also equipped with jet fuel sensors, transmit data in real-time to those on board the vessels.

The underwater search resumed in early October after being on hold for four months while crews mapped the seabed in the 23,000-square mile search zone. The GO Phoenix has searched more than 460 square miles so far.