Ocean Infinity has revived the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, more than a decade after its mysterious disappearance.
The Texas-based marine robotics firm has returned to the southern Indian Ocean, 1,500 kilometers west of Perth, equipped with a new suite of high-tech tools to locate the missing aircraft.
This comes after the company received final approval from the Malaysian government to launch fresh search operations for the missing plane at a new 5,800-square-mile site in the Indian Ocean.
The Malaysian government agreed to a ‘no-find, no-fee’ contract with Ocean Infinity, under which the private maritime robotics company will only get paid $70 million if they successfully locate the aircraft.
The new search area for MH370, about the size of metropolitan Sydney, was identified through refined analysis of weather patterns, satellite data, and aircraft debris found along the African coast and Indian Ocean islands.
Advanced marine technology deployed
The firm will deploy the Armada 7806, a 78-meter offshore support vessel built in 2023 by Norwegian firm Vard.
It is equipped with autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) from Kongsberg, capable of operating at depths of 6,000 meters for up to 100 hours.
The AUVs use advanced sonar systems to map the seafloor and detect objects. Sidescan sonar captures high-resolution images, while synthetic aperture sonar combines multiple scans for more detailed imaging.
Multibeam sonar maps underwater terrain, and sub-bottom profiling sonar penetrates the seabed to reveal buried structures.
If sonar detects a possible target, cameras, and lights on the AUVs will capture close-up images for identification. Since imaging covers a smaller area than sonar, it will only be used once a specific target is identified, ensuring an efficient and focused search.
The unresolved mystery of MH370
Considered as one of aviation history’s greatest enigmas, the Boeing 777 plane vanished from radar shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014, from Kuala Lumpur.
The flight was on its way to Beijing, China.
Tragically, air traffic control lost contact just as the plane entered Vietnamese airspace over the Gulf of Thailand.
Military radar later tracked the flight, which made an unexpected U-turn and headed into the ocean. Contact was lost an hour after takeoff, and the first search efforts were ultimately halted in 2017.
At the time of its disappearance, there were 227 passengers and 12 crew members onboard, leaving families and friends seeking closure for a devastating event that remains unresolved.
Since then, some debris linked to the flight has appeared on Africa’s east coast, thousands of miles away from Malaysia, emphasizing the vast oceanic area covering the potential crash site.
Previous search efforts, including a $150 million (£120 million) multinational operation, concluded in 2017.
Malaysia, Australia, and China—the three nations involved—stated that the search would only resume if “credible new evidence” emerged about the aircraft’s location. In 2018, Ocean Infinity conducted a similar search under the same terms but ended it after three months without success.
Since its 2018 search, Ocean Infinity has significantly advanced its marine robotics and data analytics.
It has proven its ability to deploy multiple vehicles simultaneously at depths of up to 6,000 meters and locate underwater wreckage.
In 2018, it found a missing Argentinian navy submarine nearly 1,000 meters deep in the Atlantic Ocean. Last October, it discovered the wreck of a US Navy ship that had been underwater for 78 years.
Despite these advancements, Ocean Infinity faces a challenging search.
The operation could take up to 18 months, with rough surface conditions and complex underwater terrain.
The best weather for the mission is expected between January and April.
