Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stressed that the public deserves answers about what happened to MH370.
Prime Minister Ibrahim said Transport Minister Anthony Loke informed the cabinet on December 20 about the resumption of the search for MH370 and the costs to be paid if found.
“If you ask me whether I am impressed or convinced by the new search for MH370, it is not clear. But we owe it to the people. At least, we have convinced them that the people are ready to find the plane" - Malay Mail quoted Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
The Malaysian leader added that if Ocean Infinity finds MH370, Malaysia will pay the cost. "If they find it, we will pay. If they don't find it, we will not pay. That is our position," he said.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014 while en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China. The missing plane was carrying 239 passengers and crew. Over the years, efforts to find MH370 have failed.
Malaysian media reported that on December 20, Minister Anthony Loke announced that the Malaysian Government had approved in principle the proposal to search for MH370 on the basis of "no find, no fee".
In principle, the Malaysian Cabinet has agreed to accept Ocean Infinity's proposal to continue searching for MH370 in a new search area estimated to be 15,000 square kilometres. The search location for the missing Boeing 777 is based on the latest data collected after 10 years of analysis by MH370 experts and researchers.
Malaysia, Australia and China have launched an underwater search for MH370, in an area of 120,000 square kilometres in the southern Indian Ocean, based on automatic data connection between Inmarsat satellites and the aircraft.
The A$200 million search for MH370 was abandoned after two years in January 2017, without finding any trace of the missing plane.
In 2018, Malaysia accepted a search proposal also on a “no find, no fee” basis from the US exploration company Ocean Infinity. Ocean Infinity’s search for MH370 lasted three months, covering an area of 112,000 square kilometres north of the original search location. This search was also fruitless and ended in May 2018.
More than 30 pieces of suspected MH370 debris have been collected along the African coast and on islands in the Indian Ocean, but only three wing flaps have been confirmed to be from MH370. Most of the MH370 debris has been used for analysis to narrow down the plane's crash site.
In their 495-page report on the disappearance of MH370 released in July 2018, investigators did not draw any conclusions about what happened to the Malaysia Airlines plane, stressing that the conclusion depended on finding the plane's wreckage.
The failure to locate MH370 has fueled a number of conspiracy theories. In recent years, some aviation experts have suggested that the most likely explanation is that the plane was deliberately flown off course by an experienced pilot. However, investigators have said there is nothing suspicious about the background, finances, training, or mental health of either the pilot or co-pilot of MH370.
