Malaysia will resume its search for missing flight MH370 on December 30, more than 11 years after the plane vanished. US-based robotic company Ocean Infinity will conduct intermittent seabed searches over 55 days in a 15,000 square kilometre area the Malaysian transport ministry says has the “highest probability of locating the aircraft.” The government has a “no find, no fee” contract: Ocean Infinity will be paid USD 70 million only if the wreckage is found.
The restart follows a suspension of search efforts in April due to poor weather. Ocean Infinity previously led a search in 2018 that did not locate the aircraft. An earlier multinational search involving 60 ships and 50 aircraft from 26 countries (2014–2017) covered some 129,000 square kilometres of the Indian Ocean over three years and recovered only a few pieces of debris.
The transport ministry framed the new search as a demonstration of the government’s commitment to providing closure to the families of those aboard. MH370 lost contact with air traffic control less than an hour after takeoff on March 8, 2014. Radar showed the aircraft deviated from its Beijing route and was last tracked heading west over the Strait of Malacca. The flight carried 12 Malaysian crew and 227 passengers, mostly Chinese, with others from Malaysia, Indonesia, India, France, the US, Iran, Ukraine, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Russia and Taiwan.
Considered one of aviation’s greatest mysteries, the disappearance has spawned many theories. A 495-page investigative report released in 2028 suggested the Boeing 777’s controls could have been deliberately manipulated to deviate from course. Investigators have said searches of the captain and co-pilot’s backgrounds, finances, training and mental health revealed nothing suspicious.
