Sydney, Dec 3, (dpa/GNA) – Malaysia will resume the search for the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in late December, the government said on Wednesday, almost 11 and a half years after the plane disappeared.
US and UK-based technology firm Ocean Infinity will restart operations in the Indian Ocean on December 30, the Transport Ministry said, in line with a service agreement signed in March.
The mission is expected to run for a total of 55 days, and will focus on areas where the likelihood of locating the wreck is considered highest.
MH370 vanished from radar on March 8, 2014, during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and, for reasons that remain unknown, deviated from its planned course, as reconstructed from later technical analysis.
Only a few dozen pieces of debris have washed ashore on several coastlines since then. The main fuselage, the flight data recorder and the remains of the 239 people on board have never been found.
Ocean Infinity had already launched a search in February, using a deep-sea support vessel and autonomous underwater vehicles to scan the seabed.
The search covered roughly 15,000 square kilometres – with special attention paid to four hotspots identified by researchers – some 1,500 kilometres off the coast of Perth in Western Australia.
The operation was paused in April due to poor weather, with officials saying the search would resume toward the end of the year.
Ocean Infinity was already involved in an earlier search in 2018, which ended without success.
Under a “no find, no fee” deal, the company will be paid only if the aircraft is located. The operation will cover areas not previously searched and may represent the final opportunity to determine what happened to MH370.
GNA