Search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 to resume after 11-year hiatus

The hunt for the remains of flight MH370 is scheduled to restart more than ten years after the aircraft disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, carrying 239 people. The Malaysian government announced that British-American company Ocean Infinity will lead the deep-sea search starting at the end of December.

According to the statement, Ocean Infinity has confirmed with the Government of Malaysia that it will resume seabed search operations for a total of 55 days, to be carried out intermittently. The search will focus on areas assessed to have the highest probability of locating the plane, as outlined in the service agreement signed on 25 March 2025.

Flight MH370 vanished from radar on March 8, 2014, less than an hour after takeoff, prompting one of the largest aviation searches ever undertaken. Contact with the plane was lost about 38 minutes into the flight while it was over the South China Sea. Military radar later tracked the plane turning sharply west across the Malay Peninsula before it was last detected over the Andaman Sea, north of Indonesia and west of Thailand.

Over the years, debris has been discovered along African coastlines and on islands in the Indian Ocean. Despite these findings, the flight recorders have never been recovered, and the fate of the Boeing 777 and its 227 passengers and crew remains unknown.

Earlier this year, Malaysias cabinet approved a no find, no fee agreement with Ocean Infinity to explore a 15,000 sq km section of the southern Indian Ocean. Previous attempts to conduct the search were canceled due to adverse weather. The company will only receive payment of 56 million if the wreckage is located. A prior multinational search spanning 74,000 sq km was abandoned in 2017, and a separate Ocean Infinity mission using autonomous underwater vehicles ended in May 2018 after three months.

Since then, Ocean Infinity has upgraded its technology and analysts have refined the estimates of the planes likely crash site. Oliver Plunkett, CEO of Ocean Infinity, told the New Straits Times that the company now feels prepared to restart the search.

Plunkett stated, This search remains one of the most challenging, yet critical. We have collaborated with numerous experts to analyze data and narrow down the search zone to increase the likelihood of success.

Earlier this year, Malaysias Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim indicated the government would support reopening the search if new compelling evidence appeared. The flight had more than 150 Chinese passengers, whose families have sought compensation from Malaysia Airlines, Boeing, Rolls-Royce, and insurers including Allianz.

Author: Sophia Brooks