The Malaysian government has approved in principle a new agreement with the U.S.-based company Ocean Infinity to restart the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared more than 10 years ago in one of modern aviation’s greatest mysteries.
Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 carrying 239 people, vanished on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Despite extensive international efforts, only isolated debris from the plane has been found on African coasts and Indian Ocean islands.
According to Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke, the new agreement will follow a «no find, no fee» model. Ocean Infinity will only receive a $70 million compensation if it successfully locates significant wreckage of the plane. «Our responsibility is to the victims’ families. We hope this time the results will be positive and that we can provide them with closure,» Loke said at a press conference.
A new search area
The identified search area covers 15,000 square kilometers in the southern Indian Ocean, a region defined after new data analysis by experts and Ocean Infinity. Although the exact location has not been disclosed, operations are expected to begin between January and April 2025, according to the minister.
Ocean Infinity had previously participated in a 2018 search but yielded no results. This time, the company has improved its technology and is confident about the chances of locating the wreckage. «The data presented has been evaluated by our team and is considered credible,» Loke added.
The pain of the families
Jiang Hui, whose mother was on the flight, welcomed the decision but criticized the time taken to resume operations. «We hope the Malaysian government adopts a more open approach, such as offering public rewards to encourage more parties to participate in the search,» he said.
A report published in 2018 about the plane’s disappearance concluded that the Boeing 777’s controls were likely deliberately manipulated to divert it from its route, but it failed to determine who was responsible. Investigators emphasized that solving the mystery depends on finding the plane’s wreckage.
