Malaysia’s transport ministry announced on Wednesday that the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 will recommence on December 30, reigniting hopes of uncovering the aircraft that disappeared over ten years ago. The Boeing 777 jet vanished from radar screens shortly after departing Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8, 2014, with 239 passengers, predominantly Chinese nationals, on board. Satellite data indicated that the aircraft deviated from its planned route and flew south towards the remote southern Indian Ocean, where it is presumed to have crashed.
The ministry disclosed that U.S.-based marine robotics company Ocean Infinity will conduct the search intermittently over 55 days starting from December 30, focusing on specific areas deemed most likely to yield results in locating the missing plane. This move reflects Malaysia’s government commitment to providing closure to the affected families, as stated by the ministry.
In March, Malaysia authorized a “no-find, no-fee” agreement with Ocean Infinity to resume the underwater search at a new 15,000-square-kilometer location in the ocean, with a payment of $97 million Cdn contingent upon finding wreckage. Previous extensive international search efforts failed to locate the aircraft, despite some debris washing ashore on the eastern coast of Africa and islands in the Indian Ocean. A private search conducted by Ocean Infinity in 2018 also yielded no results.