The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
A Texas-based company is claiming that they have scientific evidence of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370’s final resting place.
Ocean Infinity has announced a proposal for a new search in the southern Indian Ocean where the plane is believed to have crashed a decade ago. It has already submitted the proposal to the Malaysian government.
Ocean Infinity has proposed a “no-cure, no-fee” search – when the client is only required to pay for the services if the company secures a positive outcome.
The company’s chief executive officer Oliver Plunkett said: “We now feel in a position to be able to return to the search for MH370, and have submitted a proposal to the Malaysian government.
“Finding MH370 and bringing some resolution for all connected with the loss of the aircraft has been a constant in our minds since we left the southern Indian Ocean in 2018.
“Since then, we have focused on driving the transformation of operations at sea; innovating with technology and robotics to further advance our ocean search capabilities,” he said.
Just following midnight local time on 8 March 2014, the Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, a Boeing 777, vanished from air traffic control radars while flying over the South China Sea shortly following taking off from Kuala Lumpur. In the weeks that followed, meticulous examination of radar data and a series of satellite “pings” revealed that the aircraft deviated from its planned route, heading west across the Southeast Asia peninsula before altering its path southward over the Indian Ocean.
On board were 239 people, including 12 crew members. Malaysia’s transport minister Anthony Loke told reporters that he has invited Ocean Infinity to discuss a “no cure, no fee” proposal to resume the search for MH370.
“I am very, very confident that the government of Malaysia and cabinet will approve such a proposal,” he said.
Mr. Plunkett said the company was analyzing the data in the hopes of narrowing the search area. “This search is arguably the most challenging, and indeed the most pertinent one out there.
“We’ve been working with many experts, some outside of Ocean Infinity, to continue analyzing the data in the hopes of narrowing the search area down to one in which success becomes potentially achievable.
“We hope to get back to the search soon.”
In 2018, Ocean Infinity undertook a three-month search on a “no cure, no fee” basis, spanning approximately 112,000 square kilometers, yet this effort too ended without yielding any new findings.
