Visitors look at the wreckage of an aircraft believed to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 during a remembrance event marking the 10th anniversary of its disappearance in Subang Jaya, Malaysia, March 3, 2024.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's transport ministry said Wednesday that a private firm will resume a deep-sea hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 later this month, more than a decade after the jet vanished without a trace.
The search will be carried out by Texas-based marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity, which signed a new "no-find, no-fee" contract with Malaysia's government in March.
It is unclear if the company has new evidence of the plane's location. Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Punkett reportedly said last year that the company had improved its technology since 2018, when the firm made its first seabed search operation under a similar deal and found nothing. Punkett has said the firm is working with many experts to analyze data and had narrowed the search area to the most likely site.
The Boeing 777 plane disappeared from radar shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 people, on a flight from Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, to Beijing. Malaysia's transport ministry said Wednesday that the deep-sea hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 will resume Dec. 30, renewing hopes of finally locating the jet that vanished without a trace more than a decade ago.
Earlier this year the firm restarted the seabed search operation at a new 15,000-square-kilometer (5,800-square-mile) site in the Indian Ocean after Malaysia's government gave it the greenlight, but the search was halted in April due to bad weather.
Ocean Infinity will be paid $70 million only if wreckage is discovered.
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The Boeing 777 plane disappeared from radar shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 people, mostly Chinese nationals, on a flight from Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, to Beijing. Satellite data showed the plane turned from its flight path and headed south to the far-southern Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed.
An expensive multinational search failed to turn up any clues to its location, although debris washed ashore on the east African coast and Indian Ocean islands. Apart from those small fragments, no bodies or wreckage have ever been found.
Malaysia's transport ministry said in a brief statement Wednesday that Ocean Infinity will search intermittently from Dec. 30 for a total of 55 days, in targeted areas believed to have the highest likelihood of finding the missing aircraft.
"The latest development underscores the government of Malaysia's commitment in providing closure to the families affected by this tragedy," it said.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, "We ... appreciate the efforts made by the Malaysian side."
Ocean Infinity declined to comment on the search Wednesday in response to an Associated Press email requesting details.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
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Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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