Malaysia says it may consider renewing the hunt for Flt. MH370, which mysteriously vanished over the Indian Ocean 10 years ago, with a US technology firm that says it won’t get paid unless it finds it.
Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the Texas-based Ocean Infinity marine robotics firm has been invited to present its evidence on where it believe the plane may be located after the aircraft disappeared with more than 239 people aboard March 8, 2014.
Loke said that if Ocean Infinity can sell him on its evidence as part of its “no find, no fee” plan, he will seek approval from the government to finance the search.
“The government is steadfast in our resolve to locate MH370,” Loke said Sunday during a remembrance event marking the 10th anniversary of the plane’s disappearance. “We really hope the search can find the plane and provide truth to the next-of-kin.”
The Boeing 777 made international headlines a decade ago when it departed from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur and headed to Beijing, China, and vanished shortly afterward.
While satellite data revealed that the plane strayed from its path and appeared to crash into the southern Indian Ocean, multiple extensive searches have yielded little clues as to the exact fate of the aircraft and its passengers.
Since the aircraft’s disappearance, several pieces of its debris have washed ashore in east Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean.
Ocean Infinity is among the firms that have conducted searches for the missing plane, and although its hunt for the aircraft in 2018 found nothing, the robotics company remains determined to continue looking and pitched its latest search proposal last year.
KS Nathan, a member of the Voice MH370 group composed of relatives of the missing passengers, said Ocean Infinity was set to renew its search last year but that the hunt had to be pushed back because of delays in the delivery of its new fleet of ships and search equipment.
Ocean Infinity did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment Sunday.
The Malaysian government has declined to reveal the fee proposed by Ocean Infinity if it does find the plane but noted that it is subject to negotiation.
Loke said he does not see the cost as an issue and does not expect any hindrances for the search to proceed if approved.
Jacquita Gomes, whose flight-attendant husband was on the plane, said she is thankful that she might finally learn once and for all what happened to him.
“I’m on top of the world,” she said after Loke’s announcement at the memorial event in Subang Jaya, Malaysia, about the potential renewed search. “We have been on a roller coaster for the last 10 years. … If it is not found, I hope that it will continue with another search.”
With Post wires