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In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the transport ministry announced on Wednesday that a private company is set to renew its deep-sea exploration for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 later this month. This comes over ten years after the aircraft mysteriously disappeared.
Texas-based Ocean Infinity, a marine robotics company, has entered a new “no-find, no-fee” agreement with the Malaysian government, first established in March, to undertake the search.
The company has not confirmed whether they possess any new leads on the aircraft’s whereabouts. However, Ocean Infinity’s CEO, Oliver Plunkett, mentioned last year that the firm has upgraded its technology since their initial 2018 seabed search, which yielded no results. Plunkett emphasized that they are collaborating with numerous experts to refine data and have pinpointed a more probable search area.
Earlier this year, the company resumed its seabed search in a newly identified 15,000-square-kilometer (5,800-square-mile) zone in the Indian Ocean. This effort, authorized by Malaysian authorities, was paused in April due to adverse weather conditions.
The remuneration for Ocean Infinity stands at $70 million, contingent upon the discovery of the aircraft’s wreckage.
The Boeing 777 plane disappeared from radar shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 people, mostly Chinese nationals, on a flight from Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, to Beijing. Satellite data showed the plane turned from its flight path and headed south to the far-southern Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed.
An expensive multinational search failed to turn up any clues to its location, although debris washed ashore on the east African coast and Indian Ocean islands. Apart from those small fragments, no bodies or wreckage have ever been found.
Malaysia’s transport ministry said in a brief statement Wednesday that Ocean Infinity will search intermittently from Dec. 30 for a total of 55 days, in targeted areas believed to have the highest likelihood of finding the missing aircraft.
“The latest development underscores the government of Malaysia’s commitment in providing closure to the families affected by this tragedy,” it said.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, “We … appreciate the efforts made by the Malaysian side.”
Ocean Infinity declined to comment on the search Wednesday in response to an Associated Press email requesting details.
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Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed.