The search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will resume this month, Malaysia’s transport ministry has announced, more than a decade after the aircraft disappeared in one of the world’s most baffling aviation disasters.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry confirmed that the marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity, headquartered in the UK and US, will restart its seabed survey on 30 December. The renewed mission is expected to span 55 days and will be conducted intermittently depending on conditions at sea.
Officials said the latest operation would focus on areas assessed to have the highest probability of locating the jet, although the precise search zones have not been publicly disclosed.
MH370 vanished from civilian radar on 8 March 2014 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The Boeing 777 was carrying 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers, most of them Chinese nationals.
Also on board were 38 Malaysians, seven Australian citizens and residents, and travellers from Indonesia, India, France, the United States, Iran, Ukraine, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Russia and Taiwan.
Danica Weeks, whose husband Paul, an Australian passenger, was on the flight, said she was “incredibly grateful and relieved that the Malaysian government has committed to continuing the search”.
“We’ve never stopped wishing for answers, and knowing the search will go on brings a sense of comfort. I truly hope this next phase gives us the clarity and peace we’ve been so desperately longing for, for us and our loved ones, since March 8th 2014,” she said.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a statement supporting “all practical efforts to locate Malaysia Airlines flight MH370”, expressing hope that the new mission would help bring “closure to families who have endured so much since the tragedy”.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, said: “We have noted relevant reports and appreciate the efforts made by the Malaysian side.”
Jiang Hui, whose mother was among the passengers, said his family “welcomes the continued search by the Malaysian government and Ocean Infinity”.
Writing on WeChat, Jiang, who lives in Beijing, added that his family hoped the 55-day operation would eventually proceed with “no fixed period”.
Despite years of multinational and private search efforts, the main wreckage has never been found. Extensive surveys across vast sections of the Indian Ocean have yielded no definitive breakthrough.
Several debris fragments have washed ashore, including a wing piece recovered on Réunion Island in 2015, the first confirmed trace of MH370. More debris later appeared along the east African coast, but no major parts of the aircraft or human remains have been recovered.
Malaysia said last year that it would consider reopening the investigation if new, credible evidence emerged.
The government subsequently approved a “no-find, no-fee” arrangement with Ocean Infinity to examine a fresh 15,000 sq km section of the ocean. Under the terms, the company will receive $70m only if the wreckage is located.
However, the most recent phase of the search in the southern Indian Ocean was halted in April due to adverse weather conditions.
MH370, a Boeing 777-200, departed Kuala Lumpur at 12:41am on 8 March 2014, bound for Beijing. It was last detected on military radar at 2:14am while heading west over the Strait of Malacca.
Around 30 minutes later, Malaysia Airlines reported that contact with the aircraft had been lost. The flight had been scheduled to land at about 6:30am.
Families of the passengers and crew have long pushed for the operation to continue, arguing that answers are crucial to preventing future tragedies. Some relatives travelled to Madagascar in 2016 to search beaches for debris.
They have also sought accountability through the courts, pursuing claims against Malaysia Airlines, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and the insurer Allianz.
In January 2017, Malaysian, Australian and Chinese authorities formally ended the joint underwater search, led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which had mapped 120,000 sq km of the southern Indian Ocean over two and a half years.
Later that year, Australian investigators released their final report, describing the inability to deliver closure to grieving families as a “great tragedy” and “almost inconceivable” in the modern age.
Malaysia’s own investigation, published in 2018, found that the aircraft had been manually turned around and that “unlawful interference by a third party” could not be excluded, while dismissing theories of pilot suicide and mechanical failure.
In its statement on Wednesday, the transport ministry said: “The latest development underscores the government of Malaysia’s commitment in providing closure to the families affected by this tragedy.”
