Malaysia’s transport ministry has announced that the deep-sea search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 will restart on December 30, reopening hopes of finally determining what happened to the jet more than a decade after it disappeared.
Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 carrying 239 people—most of them Chinese nationals—vanished on March 8, 2014 shortly after leaving Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing. Satellite information later indicated the aircraft left its planned route and traveled south into a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean, where investigators believe it ultimately crashed.
US-based marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity will begin intermittent search operations on December 30, undertaking up to 55 days of surveying in areas assessed as having the highest probability of finding wreckage. The Malaysian government said the renewed effort reflects its ongoing commitment to bringing closure to the families of those on board.
Earlier this year Malaysia approved a “no-find, no-fee” agreement with Ocean Infinity to scan a new 15,000-square-kilometre section of seabed. Under that contract the company would receive a $70 million payment only if it locates the aircraft. A previous search phase was paused in April because of rough sea conditions.
Despite one of the most extensive and costly multinational searches in aviation history, investigators have not found a definitive trace of the main wreckage. Debris confirmed to be from MH370 has washed ashore on islands in the Indian Ocean and along East African coasts, but a 2018 private search by Ocean Infinity similarly ended without new discoveries.
Malaysian officials and relatives of passengers say the restart underscores a continued desire to resolve one of modern aviation’s greatest mysteries. The new search will focus on the areas that current analysis indicates are most likely to hold the aircraft’s remains.
