Malaysia Signals It May Restart The Search For Missing Flight MH370 A Decade Later

Malaysia's transport ministry said on Sunday that a Texas-based company could resume its search for Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 (MH370) as the 10th anniversary of its mysterious disappearance approaches this week.

Ocean Infinity has proposed another fee-free search of the seabed in the southern Indian Ocean five years after it ended its private search for the plane's remains, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on Sunday.

The Boeing 777 aircraft disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014. The plane with 239 people on board was scheduled to travel to Beijing. Satellite data showed the plane deviated from its flight path and was believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.

If credible evidence is presented to the Malaysian government, Loke said he would “do everything possible” to get cabinet approval for a new contract with Ocean Infinity. He said he had invited the company to a meeting when it was “willing to come to Malaysia”.

“The government is committed to locating MH370,” Loke told reporters during a commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the plane's disappearance. “I hope the families and friends of the victims remain strong. They have our deepest sympathy and will always be in our thoughts and prayers.”

The Malaysian and Chinese governments ended the official search for the plane's remains in 2017 after finding no evidence, although some debris washed up on the East African coast and on islands in the Indian Ocean, The Associated Press (AP) reported. Ocean Infinity's private search in the Indian Ocean also yielded no results.

Loke did not disclose what Ocean Infinity's fee would be if the proposed search produced results, although their 2018 agreement called for a $70 million fee if remains were found.

The Hill reached out to Ocean Infinity for further comment.

KS Nathan, a member of the Voice MH370 group, which includes next of kin, told the AP that Ocean Infinity originally planned a new search last year, but it was delayed by the delivery of its new fleet of ships and assets be. He said the Texas-based company was now able to resume the search.