Search operations for MH-370 have been extended by one year to ensure that next of kin get some closure. (Image source: Reuters)
Malaysia has extended by one year its deal with deep-sea exploration firm Ocean Infinity to search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, the transport ministry said on Monday.The Boeing 777 aircraft was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, becoming one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries. Multiple search operations conducted for the plane in the southern Indian Ocean have proved fruitless.Malaysian transport minister Anthony Loke said the extension is for 12 months from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, allowing Ocean Infinity to complete the search of a remaining area of 7,428.54 sq km. The firm will be paid $70 million only if it finds the wreckage.”This decision is a manifestation of the government’s continuous and unwavering commitment to provide closure for the next of kin of the passengers aboard flight MH370,” Loke said in a statement.New contract commitments mean search will pause between November 2026 and April 2027.Ocean Infinity had previously carried out searches for the plane up until 2018. Last year, it signed a new deal with Malaysia to resume the hunt in an area covering 15,000 sq km, with the search starting in March this year but suspended after a few weeks due to bad weather.The latest extension takes into account Ocean Infinity’s new commercial contract commitments, which will require the search’s primary assets to be temporarily redeployed to another location between November 2026 and April 2027, Loke added.The new search is being conducted in accordance with the same terms and conditions agreed between Malaysia and Ocean Infinity in 2024, in a targeted area assessed to have the highest probability of locating the aircraft. The precise location has not been given.
MH370 remains one of aviation’s greatest mysteries
More than 30 pieces of suspected aircraft debris have been collected along the coast of Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean, but only three wing fragments were confirmed to be from MH370. A 495-page report published in July 2018 said the Boeing 777’s controls were likely deliberately manipulated to take it off course, but investigators could not determine who was responsible.Satellite data analysis showed the plane likely crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean, off the coast of western Australia. However, two major searches failed to find any significant wreckage. The first search, costing about A$200 million, was called off in January 2017.Inability to locate the crash site has fuelled numerous conspiracy theories, ranging from mechanical error to more bizarre explanations like alien abduction. In recent years, some aviation experts have said the most likely explanation was that the plane was deliberately taken off course by an experienced pilot.Malaysia’s government announced in December 2024 it would resume the search following a new proposal from Ocean Infinity. The search started in March this year but was suspended after a few weeks due to bad weather.
