Families of flight MH370 victims push for wider search
Families of those on board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 are calling on the Malaysian government to extend the contract it signed with deep-sea exploration company Ocean Infinity to continue the search for the plane that disappeared 12 years ago.
The Boeing 777 was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, including six Australians, when it disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, and has become one of the world’s enduring aviation mysteries.
Since then, numerous search operations for the plane have been carried out in the southern Indian Ocean, but all have been fruitless.
Malaysia agreed in March 2025 to allow Ocean Infinity to continue the hunt under a “no find, no fee” principle, with the firm to be paid US$70 million ($A99 million) if the wreck is successfully found.
The Malaysian Air Accident Investigation Bureau said in a statement on Sunday that no findings have been found so far after two search phases that lasted 28 days and covered approximately 7,571 square kilometers of seabed.
Operations are periodically interrupted by weather and sea conditions, and the second phase will end on January 23, the bureau said.
“The government remains committed to keeping families informed and will continue to provide updates as appropriate,” the statement said.
Voice370, a group representing the families of those on board, said it was unlikely Ocean Infinity would be able to continue searching before its contract expires in June, given the coming southern hemisphere winter months and worsening sea conditions.
It called on the government to honor any requests to extend Ocean Infinity’s agreement and extend the same conditions to other interested exploration companies.
“A simple addendum extending the contract period without changing the fundamental terms of the agreement would allow searches to continue without delay,” he said.
Ocean Infinity had previously searched for the plane but found no significant debris.
In a 2018 report, Malaysian investigators did not reach a conclusion about what happened on the flight but did not rule out the possibility that the plane was deliberately diverted off course.
