Malaysia to resume search for Flight MH370 missing for 10 years

International

THE Malaysian government has announced plans to resume the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared in March 2014, marking one of aviation’s greatest mysteries.

Malaysia's cabinet has approved, in principle, a $70-million (Php4.1 billion) deal with US-based marine exploration firm Ocean Infinity to locate the wreckage of the Boeing 777 that disappeared while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

The new search will focus on a 15,000-square-kilometer area of the southern Indian Ocean based on new data that the Malaysian government deems credible.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke confirmed that negotiations with Ocean Infinity are ongoing, with the final terms expected to be finalized early next year.

The search will operate under a "no find, no fee" arrangement, meaning Ocean Infinity will only be paid if the wreckage is discovered.

Previous attempts to locate the plane, including a 2017 search involving Malaysia, Australia, and China, and a 2018 Ocean Infinity-led effort, ended without success.

The 2018 mission was similarly conducted on a no-cure, no-pay basis and lasted three months.

Despite these setbacks, the new search offers renewed hope for the families of those lost, many of whom have endured years of uncertainty and grief.

Relatives of the passengers expressed mixed emotions

about the news.

In a report by the New Straits Times, Jacquita Gonzales, the wife of inflight supervisor Patrick Gomes, called the announcement "the best Christmas present ever."

Other relatives, such as Intan Maizura Othaman, whose husband was a cabin crew member, spoke of the emotional toll the prolonged uncertainty has taken.

Ocean Infinity’s CEO, Oliver Plunkett, welcomed the Malaysian government’s decision, expressing hope that the search would bring answers.

Investigators have long speculated that the plane was deliberately diverted before crashing in the Indian Ocean, but the mystery remains unsolved.(CMM)