Authorities in Malaysia have made the unexpected announcement that search efforts for missing flight MH370 will resume – more than a decade after the aircraft vanished.
Transport minister Anthony Loke said the government will launch a search in the southern Indian Ocean – a new area in the search – after liaising with exploration firm Ocean Infinity – which had launched an exploration for the aircraft earlier this year – having floated a US$70 million (£56 million) reward should it find new, substantive wreckage, reports the Mirror.
He said in a statement that the Malaysian government has a “responsibility and obligation” to people who lost loved ones when the aircraft mysteriously vanished above the ocean on March 8, 2014. He added that his government hoped to “give closure” to the families who have questioned what happened.
He said: “Our responsibility and obligation and commitment is to the next of kin. We hope this time will be positive, that the wreckage will be found and give closure to the families.” The Malay Mail has reported that the government agreed “in principle” to accept the new proposal from Ocean Infinity, which would resume the search over a 15,000km area.
However, he told a post-cabinet meeting in the nartion that the firm would not receive any money if it failed to find a trace of the missing plance, with the search starting on the “no-find-no-fee principle.”
He added: “The Cabinet has agreed in principle to accept Ocean Infinity’s proposal to resume the search for MH370’s wreckage in a new search area estimated at 15,000km (9,320 miles) per square based on the no-find-no-fee principle. This means the government will not have to pay unless the wreckage is found.”
The Malaysian Airlines-operated flight took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on March 8, with a destination of Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing. It vanished over the Indian Ocean and is likely in the southern portion of the area, with all of its 239 occupants – including 227 passengers and 12 crew – presumed dead.
Debris thought to be from the aircraft has washed up in the years since it’s disappearance, with some appearing along the coast of Africa, and on some Indian Ocean islands.
Loved ones of passengers and others who were on the flight have not given up, with many demanding action from the organisations involved in constructing and flying the plane.
Families of Chinese passengers – around 150 of whom were on the flight – have demanded compensation from Boeing, which manufactured the plane, Rolls-Royce, which made its engine, the Allianz insurance group and Malaysia Airlines itself – among others.
Robotics firm Ocean Infinity was engaged by the Malaysian government in 2018 to search for major pieces of wreckage, but it failed on two attempts.
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