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The Malaysian government has agreed to resume the search for MH370, after US company Ocean Infinity proposed a new area to be searched in the Indian Ocean.
"We have a responsibility, obligation and commitment to the families of the victims. We hope that this search will yield positive results, identify the plane wreckage and bring closure to the tragedy for the victims' relatives," Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke said at a press conference on December 20.
Ocean Infinity, a Texas-based company, is leading the search, which is expected to last 18 months in a new area of about 15,000 square kilometers in the southern Indian Ocean. The company has pledged to receive a reward of only $70 million if it locates the plane.
Ocean Infinity launched two searches for MH370 in 2018, but did not collect any new clues.
In March, Ocean Infinity announced that it had new evidence of MH370's crash site and offered the Malaysian government a "no-find, no-cost" search. Under the proposal, Malaysia would only have to pay a service fee if the US company guaranteed positive results on MH370's remains.
"Finding MH370 and providing some resolution to all the mysteries surrounding the missing aircraft has been on our minds since we left the southern Indian Ocean in 2018," Oliver Plunkett, CEO of Ocean Infinity, said on March 5.
"The search unit is confident about the new area," Loke said, adding that the data from Ocean Infinity had been thoroughly examined by the Malaysian Transport Ministry. "They feel they have a credible lead, based on the research of many experts and having considered many different perspectives."
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, with all 239 passengers and crew members on board, less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Several countries have coordinated a search over an area of 120,000 square kilometers in the southern Indian Ocean for months, but have found no trace of the plane.
In July 2015, the search effort saw its first major breakthrough when a piece of debris washed up on the French island of Reunion and was identified as a flaperon from MH370. In March 2016, a piece of debris believed to be an engine cowling from MH370 washed up in South Africa.
However, no organization or country has been able to locate the plane for the past 10 years. The cause of the plane's disappearance and its fate remain a mystery.
VN (according to VnExpress)