Malaysia Extends Search for Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370

Malaysia has extended by one year its deal with deep-sea exploration firm Ocean Infinity to conduct ​an underwater search for the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The Cabinet on Friday approved the extension of a “no-find, no-fee” agreement with Ocean Infinity until June 30, 2027, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said in a statement, the Associated Press reported.

“This decision is a manifestation of the government’s continuous and unwavering commitment to provide a closure for the next of kin of the passengers aboard flight MH370,” Loke said.

The Boeing 777 aircraft vanished without trace on March 8, 2014, while en route from ​Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with 227 passengers and 12 crew aboard. Its disappearance prompted the largest search in aviation history, but despite extensive multinational search operations, the aircraft has never been located.

In a 495-page report into MH370’s disappearance, published in July 2018, Malaysian authorities said that the aircraft was steered off course around 40 minutes after takeoff, likely deliberately. It then most likely crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean.

Debris has been discovered along the coast of Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean, although only a few fragments were confirmed to belong the jetliner. Unsurprisingly, the fact that such a large aircraft could disappear in an age of blanket radar and satellite coverage has prompted a host of wild speculation as to its ultimate fate. One theory holds that the aircraft landed on an island in the Indian Ocean; others claim that it was hijacked by terrorists or even sucked into a black hole.

The current search is being led by the U.K.- and U.S.-based marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity. The company carried out a search for the aircraft that ended in 2018, after an underwater search by Malaysia, Australia, and China in the southern Indian Ocean failed to locate the airplane.

In March of last year, Ocean Infinity signed a new deal with Malaysia to resume the hunt in an area covering 15,000 square kilometers in the southern Indian Ocean. However, searches were delayed until the end of the year due to poor weather conditions.

The latest extension is ​aimed at enabling Ocean Infinity to complete the search of a remaining ​area ⁠of 7,428.54 square kilometer area, after it temporarily redeployed its primary search assets to fulfill other commercial contracts, Loke said. Ocean Infinity vessels are expected to be redeployed between November and April, when the weather conditions are most amenable for an underwater search, he added. Under the agreement, Ocean Infinity will be paid $70 million only if it locates the wreckage.

Given the passage of time, the chances of success appear slim – but Ocean Infinity is likely clinging to the hope that it can help solve one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.