New search begins for MH370 plane, missing since 11 years

Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, with 227 passengers and 12 crew personnel on board, and had vanished en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.

Malaysian transport minister Anthony Loke on Tuesday said that maritime exploration firm Ocean Infinity has resumed the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, after 10 years of its disappearance in what came to be known as one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.

Visitors looking at the wreckage of an aircraft, believed to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, during the 10th anniversary event of its disappearance.(File Image/Reuters)

A Boeing 777, flight MH370 with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board, vanished while en route to China's Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.

Loke told reporters that contract details Malaysia and the firm were still being finalised. But, he welcomed Ocean Infinity's "proactiveness" to deploy their ships to search for the missing plane.

How long will the search op go on?

However, the transport minister did not provide details on when exactly did the British maritime exploration firm began its hunt. He noted that terms of how long would this search last have also not been negotiated yet.

In December 2024, the Malaysian government had agreed in principle to resume the search for the wreckage of the missing MH370 flight. Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has not been found till date.

Loke had said, "They (Ocean Infinity) have convinced us that they are ready. That's why the Malaysian government is proceeding with this."

The transport minister had in December said that the British firm would receive $70 million if the wreckage of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane found is proved substantive. "Our responsibility and obligation and commitment is to the next to the kin," he added.

Initially, Malaysian investigators had not ruled out the possibility of the aircraft being veered off course deliberately. In 2018 as well, Malaysia had dealt with Ocean Infinity to search for the wreckage in the southern Indian Ocean, offering to pay up to $70 million if the plane was found. However, the firm failed on two attempts.

Debris, some confirmed and some believed to be from the missing aircraft, had washed up along the coast of Africa and on the islands in the Indian Ocean. They have been safely kept with the Malaysian government till date.

Later, Malaysia, Australia and China had conducted an underwater search in a 120,000 square kilometer (46,332 sq mile) area of the southern Indian Ocean on the basis of data of automatic connections between an Inmarsat satellite and the plane.

Notably, over 150 Chinese passengers were onboard the MH370 flight, with relatives demanding compensation from Malaysian Airlines, Boeing, aircraft's engine maker Rolls-Royce and the Allianz insurance group among others.