Malaysia’s transport ministry announced on Wednesday the upcoming restart of the deep-sea search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 on December 30. The search aims to locate the aircraft that disappeared over a decade ago without a trace. The Boeing 777 aircraft vanished from radar after departing on March 8, 2014, with 239 passengers, primarily Chinese nationals, from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Satellite data indicated the plane deviated from its route and flew south towards the southern Indian Ocean, where it is presumed to have crashed.
According to the ministry, U.S.-based marine robotics company Ocean Infinity will conduct targeted searches over 55 days, focusing on specific areas with the highest probability of finding the missing plane. This initiative reflects Malaysia’s commitment to providing closure to the families affected by the tragedy.
In March, Malaysia’s government approved a “no-find, no-fee” agreement with Ocean Infinity to resume the underwater search at a new 15,000-square-kilometre location in the ocean. The contract stipulates that Ocean Infinity will receive $97 million Cdn only if wreckage is located. Previous multinational search efforts and a private search conducted by Ocean Infinity in 2018 yielded no significant findings despite debris washing up on the shores of the east African coast and Indian Ocean islands. The search operation was paused in April due to adverse weather conditions.
