Autonomous Deep-Sea Robots to Take the Lead in New Search for Missing Flight MH370

Malaysia is launching a renewed effort to locate the vanished Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, deploying ships and advanced robotic systems into one of the worlds most remote ocean regions. The Boeing 777, carrying 239 passengers and crew, disappeared in 2014.

Beginning December 30, the Texas-based seabed exploration company Ocean Infinity will conduct a 55-day operation, scanning a 15,000-square-kilometer section of the southern Indian Ocean, an area identified as a potential resting place for the aircraft wreckage. The contract is structured as a no find, no fee agreement, allowing Malaysia to pay up to $70 million only if substantial debris is located.

The exact search coordinates are confidential but are informed by satellite tracking data and detailed modeling of debris drift across the Indian Ocean prior to washing ashore.

The mission relies on an advanced fleet of largely unmanned surface vessels guiding multiple autonomous underwater vehicles. These vehicles hover tens of meters above the seafloor and employ multibeam sonar, sub-bottom profilers, and high-resolution imaging to map depths of up to 6,000 meters. Ocean Infinity claims this updated technology enables faster, higher-resolution mapping with a reduced environmental impact compared to traditional survey methods.

Previous efforts from 2014 to 2017, led by Malaysia, Australia, and China, covered 120,000 square kilometers at a cost of roughly $155 million (over $200 million in todays value) but failed to locate the main wreckage. In 2018, Ocean Infinity scanned an additional 100,000 square kilometers without success. Only three confirmed pieces of the planes wing have ever been recovered.

Author: Logan Reeves