After more than a decade, Malaysia Airlines' search for MH370 has officially resumed. US ocean exploration company Ocean Infinity has resumed the search campaign - Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke confirmed on February 25.
Mr. Loke said Malaysia is still finalizing the terms of the contract with Ocean Infinity, but welcomed the company's proactive deployment of the exploration ship back to the area where MH370 is believed to have crashed. However, he did not disclose the exact time the search began or how long it was expected to last.
MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014, shortly after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur airport to Beijing. There were 239 people on board, including 12 crew members and 227 passengers.
The flight disappeared from military radar at 2:14 a.m., while flying through the Strait of Malacca. Although many pieces of MH370 debris have been found along the coast of Africa, the cause of the disappearance is still one of the world's biggest aviation mysteries.
The Guardian reported that grace Nathan, 36, who had her mother on the flight, expressed her relief that the search was resumed after years of delay. Meanwhile, Jaquita Gonzales, wife of flight supervisor Patrick Gomes, said her family hopes they will get a final answer this time.
The Ocean Infinity survey vessel has been in the southern Indian Ocean since February 23, according to data from the maritime tracking site Marinetraffic.com.
The Malaysian government agreed to continue the search in December 2024 under a no find - no fee mechanism. If the location of the wreck is determined, Ocean Infinity will receive $70 million. The campaign is expected to last 18 months, covering an area of 15,000 square kilometers.
On March 8, 2024, exactly 10 years after the tragedy, Australia proposed to support Malaysia in resuming the search. Previously, from 2014 to 2017, the Australian government coordinated a search of an area of 120,000 square kilometres on the seabed but was unsuccessful.
In October 2017, Australia's final report concluded that the inability to find MH370 was a terrible tragedy and unbelievable in the modern technology era.
There are still many unanswered questions: Why did the plane suddenly change direction towards the Indian Ocean? Why did the vital communication systems suddenly stop working?
Many theories have been put forward, from the pilot's suicide, being attacked by a group of pilots, to the hidden plot of a mysterious force.
Ocean Infinity conducted a search in 2018 but failed to find a result. Will the biggest mystery in aviation history be solved after 11 years?
