Malaysia has extended its contract with marine robotics company Ocean Infinity for an additional year, continuing the deep-sea search for wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in the southern Indian Ocean. The Cabinet approved the extension of the "no-find, no-fee" agreement, which will now run until June 30, 2025.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke stated that the decision reflects the government's commitment to providing closure for the families of the 239 passengers and crew aboard the flight. The extension allows Ocean Infinity to complete the search in a remaining 7,428.54-square-kilometer area.
Flight MH370 vanished from radar on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Satellite data indicated the Boeing 777 deviated from its flight path and headed south into the southern Indian Ocean, where it is presumed to have crashed. An extensive multinational search effort, as well as a private search by Ocean Infinity in 2018, failed to locate the aircraft. However, pieces of debris have washed ashore on coastlines in the East African region and on Indian Ocean islands.
Ocean Infinity, which has headquarters in both the United States and Britain, will receive a payment of $70 million only if wreckage is discovered. The company's vessels are expected to return to the MH370 mission between November and April of next year, coinciding with a period of calmer seas that offers the safest and most effective conditions for underwater operations.