Malaysia to Relaunch Search for Missing MH370

Malaysia plans to resume the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 wreckage. This comes a decade after its disappearance, with US firm Ocean Infinity proposing the mission. The government aims to bring closure to families of the 239 victims despite past unsuccessful efforts.

In a renewed bid to locate the elusive wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, Malaysia's government has greenlit plans to restart the search more than a decade after the aircraft vanished under mysterious circumstances in 2014. The decision was confirmed by Transport Minister Anthony Loke, who announced on Friday that US-based exploration firm Ocean Infinity has put forth a proposal for a new search mission centered in the southern Indian Ocean. The company previously led the last search attempt back in 2018.

Minister Loke emphasized the government's commitment to the victims' families, stating, "The proposal for a search operation by Ocean Infinity is a solid one and deserves to be considered. Our responsibility, obligation, and commitment are to the next of kin. We hope this time will be positive, that the wreckage will be found and give closure to the families." Flight MH370, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, mysteriously disappeared over the South China Sea with 239 people on board. Despite a comprehensive multinational search, no trace of the aircraft has ever been found, according to Al Jazeera.

Past search efforts in the Indian Ocean were extensive, covering 120,000 square kilometers and costing around 200 million Australian Dollars, until they were suspended indefinitely in January 2017. In 2018, Malaysia accepted a "no-cure, no-fee" proposal from Ocean Infinity, launching a three-month search that spanned 112,000 square kilometers north of the initial target area, but ultimately yielded no results when it concluded in May that year. A 495-page report released in July 2018 by MalayMail indicated that the plane had been deliberately diverted off course by unknown individuals, marking the search as the costliest in aviation history.

(With inputs from agencies.)