Malaysia has extended by one year its deal with deep-sea exploration firm Ocean Infinity to conduct an underwater search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, the Transport Ministry confirmed.
The Boeing 777 aircraft was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, becoming one of the world's enduring aviation mysteries. Multiple search operations conducted for the plane in the southern Indian Ocean have proved fruitless.
“This decision is a manifestation of the government’s continuous and unwavering commitment to provide closure for the next of kin of the passengers aboard flight MH370,” Transport Minister Anthony Loke stated following the decision.
In the 12 years since the plane’s disappearance, several fragments of debris have been discovered on islands in the Indian Ocean, and according to the Malaysian authorities’ 495-page report into MH370’s disappearance published in July 2018, the aircraft likely crashed in the area.
The firm leading the search, Ocean Infinity, is a UK and US-based marine robotics firm that led an initial search for the aircraft that ended in 2018.
Search spans about 15,000 square kilometers of Indian Ocean
In March of 2025, Ocean Infinity signed a new deal with Malaysia to reignite the investigation, searching some 15,000 square kilometers in the southern Indian Ocean.
This latest extension will allow Ocean Infinity to cover the remaining ground, approximately 7,400 kilometers, as last year’s search was delayed due to poor weather.
The search will be conducted between November and April, when weather conditions are expected to be best.
The firm will only receive the contracted $70 million if it successfully locates the wreckage and solves one of the biggest mysteries in the history of aviation.