Malaysia says search for MH370 must resume off Australian coast

Subang Jaya, Malaysia: The Malaysian government appears certain to back a fresh search for the wreckage of flight MH370, the jetliner that disappeared 10 years ago this week with 239 people on board, including six Australians.

American company Ocean Infinity has put forward a new proposal for a 15,000-square-kilometre search of the Southern Indian Ocean on a “no-find, no-fee” basis.

Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke, right, addresses reporters on Sunday. Credit: Zach Hope

It would be the first major search for MH370 since Ocean Infinity tried – and failed – to find the Malaysia Airlines plane in 2018.

“As far as the Malaysian government is concerned, we are committed to justice and the search must go on,” Transport Minister Anthony Loke said at a 10-year remembrance service near the capital Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

Affected families, who have been pressing the Malaysian government for years to do more, welcomed the announcement with hugs and rounds of applause.

Loke said he had invited Ocean Infinity to Malaysia to discuss the contract and the costs – which remained confidential – should the company be successful. “[But] based on this proposal, we have no reluctance to start such a search … costs are not an issue here,” he said.

Wreckage from the plane on display inside a shopping centre near Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Credit: Zach Hope

He said approvals could pass through cabinet within weeks, depending on how soon the government and the company could meet face to face to discuss terms.

“We are not in touch with the Australian government yet, but once Ocean Infinity has finalised their proposal, definitely we have to ... get their co-operation,” Loke said.

Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared in the early hours of March 8, 2014, becoming one of the world’s most confounding and enduring aviation mysteries.

The nature of the disappearance and the apparent reluctance of the Malaysian government to green-light new searches have helped to fuel conspiracy theories ranging from a Russian hijacking to an international plot involving America’s CIA.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau searched for MH370 for almost three years.Credit: AP

The leading credible theory points to mass murder-suicide by the experienced captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, who is alleged to have veered the jetliner into the remote Southern Indian Ocean, far off the coast of Perth.

Details of the new search proposal were still unclear on Sunday. More was expected to be revealed in the coming days, possibly on the anniversary of the tragedy on Friday.

“At this stage, we are unable to say definitively when a new search will take place as discussions are ongoing and there is still much work to be done,” Ocean Infinity chief executive Oliver Plunkett said in an emailed statement.

“We are hopeful that our experienced team and marine robotics will be instructed in 2024.”

Adventurer Blaine Gibson, who has found many pieces of debris attributed to MH370. Credit: Zach Hope

Blaine Gibson, a US-born adventurer who has tracked down many pieces of debris attributed to MH370, said the sparse details presented on Sunday appeared similar to an earlier Ocean Infinity proposal, but he suspected this information was only the beginning.

“I have not seen the specific areas to be searched … but it’s very positive news,” he said. “It is ‘no find, no fee’ – and no risk to Malaysia to start the search.”

VPR Nathan, who lost his wife Anne Daisy on MH370, presented some of the research by the company since its last effort in 2018.

He said the proposal was shaped with input from three international universities, as well as an independent group dedicated to solving the mystery, and aviation experts such as Frenchmen Captain Patrick Blelly and Jean Luc Marchand.

A video tribute from Australian Amanda Lawton, whose parents Cathy and Bob were on MH370, was played at Sunday’s 10-year remembrance.

There has also been involvement from British aerospace engineer Richard Godfrey, who co-authored a study that used amateur radio waves to map the plane’s final resting place to a section of ocean about 1500 kilometres west of Perth, much of it yet to be explored by underwater searches.

The three-hour remembrance event in the city of Sambung Jaya featured speeches, poems, ballet, songs and interpretative dancing.

No Australian families were present, but organisers played a video tribute from Brisbane’s Amanda Lawton, who lost her parents Cathy and Bob when the plane disappeared.

They were partway through a holiday that was supposed to take in China and Vietnam.

Each of the victims was represented by a piece of a puzzle at Sunday’s remembrance ceremony. Credit: Zach Hope

“My parents were loving and devoted family members,” Amanda said. “My mum was my best friend. We would speak every day, and spend every weekend together.

“I have had the privilege to meet many of the family members at previous events. I hope everyone is doing well. I wish you all peace and hope we all meet again soon.”

The vast expanse of ocean where MH370 is believed to have gone down rests in Australia’s search and rescue zone.

Days after its disappearance, a surface search led by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority found nothing. Neither did a more exhaustive 120,000-square-kilometre search by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. It was officially suspended in 2017 after almost three years.

Australia has since taken a back seat.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said future searches were a matter for Malaysia and that it had not received a request for further assistance.

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