The Malaysian government announced on Friday that it has reached a tentative agreement with US investigators to launch a new search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370), which went missing in March 2014 and has never been found.
The disappearance of MH370, which fell off the radar screen less than an hour after takeoff on March 8, 2014 and has never been seen since, remains one of the world's best-known unsolved mysteries. There is one. Multiple search and rescue operations were carried out across the Indian Ocean, but no evidence of the aircraft's whereabouts was obtained for 10 years. The discovery of what appeared to be plane wreckage on the remote island of Réunion in 2015 initially raised hopes of uncovering the plane's whereabouts, but ultimately no major discoveries were made. .
The flight disappeared with 239 people on board. Their loved ones have not stopped insisting on further efforts to find the passengers, but the Malaysian government stopped In 2017, the search was called off because there were no new leads and the effort was too expensive to sustain.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's government announced Friday that a new effort to find the plane is being launched based on “credible” new leads that exploration company Ocean Infinity believes is worth pursuing. Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Lourke specified Under the approved contract with Ocean Infinity, Malaysian taxpayers will not have to pay for the search unless the company finds the plane, it said in remarks on Friday. The reward for its discovery is $70 million.
“They felt it was a reliable lead and based on the work of many experts. Of course, Ocean Infinity took into account all the findings by different researchers,” Roque said. Ta. malaysia star. “So this is another attempt to find MH370 and it is our commitment to the family, especially the next of kin, that the government will continue this search.”
Loke added that the agreement has only been approved in principle and certain conditions need to be finalized.
“The Department for Transport is currently negotiating the terms of the agreement with Ocean Infinity, which is expected to be finalized in early 2025,” he said, adding that the proposal was “credible” and that the government had given it time. Said it was worth the spend.
BBC I remembered This week, Ocean Infinity announced that it had already completed one search operation for the plane in 2018, with no significant findings. According to various reports in Malaysian media, Roque did not reveal at the press conference the identity of the new “credible” lead the company is pursuing. The 2018 search operation lasted three months.
Ocean Infinity issued its own statement calling the Malaysian government's announcement “great news.”
According to the BBC, the company added: “We look forward to sharing further updates in the new year once details are finalized and the team is ready.”
malaysian New Straits Times I remembered Mr Roque had previously suggested in November that Ocean Infinity had approached Kuala Lumpur with a deal that could see the search resumed in June, but the government was still considering the terms. The agreement announced Friday appears to be a response to that proposal.
Relatives of the disappeared reacted enthusiastically to the news, expressing their gratitude and hoping the deal would bring closure for their families.
“It feels like the best Christmas present ever,” said Jaquita Gonzalez, wife of in-flight director Patrick Gomez. said of New Straits Times.
“Finally, they agree that the proposal put forward by Ocean Infinity is credible enough to restart the search. They have always said they needed reliable evidence,” she continued. He thanked Rourke for keeping his promise to proceed with the search.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to resume the search. We have been waiting for a new search for a long time since the last search ended in 2018,” said Grace Subashirai Nathan, head of the MH370 family. spoke. said In a statement. “As next of kin, we sincerely hope that this search will be the last. We sincerely hope that this time we will find MH370.”
Subramaniam Gurusamy, father of passenger S. Puspanathan, said: malaysia star She said she was “hoping” the search would find her son and believed “all other relatives felt the same way.”
“This announcement evokes mixed emotions: hope, gratitude, and sadness. It's been almost 11 years, and the uncertainty and pain of not having answers has been incredibly difficult for us.” said the wife of flight attendant Mohd Hazrin Mohamed Hasnan (Intan Maizuru). said.
Malaysia guided Search operations in the South China Sea were carried out between 2014 and 2017 with the cooperation of China and Australia, both of which had passengers on board the plane, but the scope of the search expanded as new evidence and searchers emerged. Closed because there were no discoveries available. effort. The investigation cost $150 million and yielded no answers.
In the absence of a formal search, some families took it upon themselves to search for debris that may have washed up on the shore. One of Jiang Hui's relatives, her mother, Jiang Cuiyun, was on the plane. explained to malaysia star In March, I traveled across Africa in search of clues on the beaches of eastern Africa. His trip resulted in the discovery of “honeycomb debris” that he hoped would provide clues to the plane's location, but as of press time, no concrete clues have been found.
“We hope that these governments understand our determination and that our relatives know that we have not given up, so that they do not give up either,” he said.
