Malaysia is relaunching a search for missing Flight MH370 on December 30, reigniting hopes for answers for families more than a decade after the plane vanished.
The Malaysian Ministry of Transport confirmed the new operation, entrusting underwater technology firm Ocean Infinity with the task.
The company stands to receive $70 million if it successfully locates significant wreckage, under a “no find, no fee” arrangement.
This payment model mirrors previous attempts to discover the Boeing 777, which disappeared with 239 people aboard.
The operation is expected to run for 55 non-continuous days, focusing on a specific area in the southern Indian Ocean. This target zone is deemed to have the “highest probability” of containing the aircraft, though authorities did not specify its exact location.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished from radar screens on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The flight was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members.
Two-thirds of those on board were Chinese nationals, with others from Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, India, the United States, the Netherlands, and France.
This marks the latest effort in a series of unsuccessful searches. Ocean Infinity, headquartered in the United Kingdom and the United States, previously led an intensive but fruitless search in 2018.
An earlier Australian-led operation, covering 120,000 square kilometers of the Indian Ocean, lasted over three years without finding the main wreckage. Only small pieces of debris washed ashore on African coastlines and Indian Ocean islands.
A more recent search in the southern Indian Ocean this April was suspended due to adverse weather conditions.
A 495-page report in 2018 indicated that the Boeing 777’s control systems were likely intentionally diverted. However, investigators could not identify who was responsible or definitively conclude what happened without finding the aircraft.
The Malaysian Ministry of Transport stated that this renewed effort “reiterates the Malaysian government’s commitment to provide clarity and bring closure to the families affected by this tragedy.”
Relatives of the victims expressed renewed hope in February that a new search could finally yield the long-awaited answers.