Kuala Lumpur: The families of passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which mysteriously disappeared nine years ago, have urged the Malaysian government to allow US seabed exploration company Ocean Infinity to conduct a fresh search for the missing plane.
When flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014 while traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, it cemented its place as one of the greatest aviation mysteries in history.
Malaysia hired Ocean Infinity in 2018 to search for the plane in the southern Indian Ocean, promising to pay up to $70 million if it was found. But it failed in its operation.
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The company launched its search after Malaysia, China and Australia called off an unsuccessful A$200 million ($135.36 million) underwater search in January 2017 because they found no sign of the plane.
Ocean Infinity hopes to launch a new search as early as this summer and urged the Malaysian government to accept any offer from the company on a conditional fee basis, Voice370, a group of 370 passengers' relatives told Sunday. , meaning that the firm is paid only if it is successful.
Voice370 said in a statement following a memorial service to mark the ninth anniversary of MH370's disappearance: "Over the past 12 months Ocean Infinity made real progress, working with a number of people to further understand the events in 2014.
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They now have better chances of finally making a successful discovery as a result of this. Requests for comment from Ocean Infinity and Malaysia's Ministry of Transport were not immediately returned.
Transport Minister Anthony Locke promised not to "close the book" on MH370, adding that further searches would be appropriately considered when there is "new and credible information" on the possible location of the plane, the memorial read to families. In one message for service.
Along the African coast and on islands in the Indian Ocean, wreckage of the MH370 plane has been confirmed or is believed to have washed ashore.
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The Malaysian investigation did not reach any conclusions about what happened during the first flight, but did not completely rule out the possibility that the plane had been deliberately diverted. $1 is equal to 1.4775 Australian dollars.