Transport ministry confirms seabed operation by Ocean Infinity targeting highest-probability zone in southern Indian Ocean
Malaysia's transport ministry said Wednesday it will resume the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on December 30, more than a decade after the Boeing 777 vanished over the southern Indian Ocean with 239 people aboard. The announcement revives an investigation that has become aviation's most expensive and protracted missing-aircraft hunt.
The ministry confirmed Ocean Infinity, a U.S.-UK exploration firm, will conduct a seabed survey targeting a 15,000-square-kilometer area assessed as the highest probability zone for locating the aircraft. Under a "no find, no fee" contract, Malaysia will pay $70 million only if substantive wreckage is discovered. The operation marks the third major search phase since the March 8, 2014, disappearance and the second by Ocean Infinity, which conducted an unsuccessful mission in 2018.
New search parameters
The ministry statement provided limited technical detail but confirmed key operational parameters. The target area lies in the southern Indian Ocean; precise coordinates were not disclosed. Ocean Infinity will deploy autonomous underwater vehicles to map the seabed, weather permitting.
The search was suspended in April 2025 due to severe weather conditions. Ocean Infinity described the suspension as seasonal, telling media it was "not the season" for safe operations in the target zone. The resumption at year's end aligns with improved weather conditions in the southern Indian Ocean.
The $70 million contingent fee represents the same payment structure Ocean Infinity accepted in 2018. The alignment of commercial incentive with mission success distinguishes this model from the earlier Australia-led search, which consumed approximately $150 million in public funds with no contractual tie to discovery.
Decade of searches
Flight MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew. Satellite communications analysis indicated the aircraft diverted sharply from its planned route and flew south for hours before fuel exhaustion. No distress signal was transmitted.
An Australia-led multinational search scanned roughly 120,000 square kilometers of deep ocean floor between 2014 and January 2017. The operation, coordinated with Malaysia and China, identified shipwrecks and geological features but no confirmed aircraft wreckage. It remains the most extensive deep-sea search in aviation history.
Ocean Infinity's first mission, conducted between January and May 2018, covered an additional 112,000 square kilometers north of the original priority area under a similar no-cure-no-fee agreement. The company deployed multiple AUVs simultaneously and achieved faster coverage rates than earlier missions, but the search ended without locating the wreck.
More than 30 pieces of suspected debris have been recovered from shorelines across the western Indian Ocean and African coast. Three wing fragments—including a flaperon found on Réunion Island in July 2015—were positively identified as MH370 components. Drift modeling by Australian and French oceanographers used debris finds to refine probability zones, informing the new 15,000-square-kilometer target.
Members are reading: Why the narrowed 15,000 km² zone is a high-stakes gamble for Malaysia, Ocean Infinity, and grieving families.
What success requires
Locating MH370 depends on three conditions: accurate geolocation modeling, seabed survey execution within narrow weather windows, and wreckage lying within detectable range of the AUV sonar array. Ocean Infinity has refined its multi-AUV deployment since 2018, increasing simultaneous coverage and resolution. The southern Indian Ocean's rugged topography—abyssal plains punctuated by ridges and trenches—complicates detection, especially if the aircraft broke apart on impact.
Weather in the target zone deteriorates sharply during Southern Hemisphere winter, limiting safe windows for surface vessels and subsea assets. The ministry has not confirmed whether operations will be consecutive or spread across multiple weather-favorable periods through early 2026.
Closure and accountability
The resumption reflects sustained pressure from families and lingering questions about aviation safety protocols. Malaysia's handling of the crisis in 2014 drew criticism for delayed information-sharing and coordination lapses. The transport ministry framed the new search as fulfilling a commitment to families and to resolving unanswered questions about the flight's final hours.
Success hinges on finding substantive wreckage—components large and identifiable enough to confirm the site and enable recovery of the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder. Without those devices, the investigation cannot move beyond the 2018 report's conclusion that the diversion was likely deliberate but the responsible party unknown. For the families and the aviation industry, closure depends on evidence that has eluded searchers for 4,232 days.
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