Families Seek Extension to Continue Malaysia Airlines Flight Mh370 Search
Families of those aboard malaysia airlines flight mh370 urged the Malaysian government to extend Ocean Infinity’s contract so the deep-sea search can continue, saying the company is unlikely to resume work before the agreement ends in June. Sunday at 10: 00 a. m. ET — the plea matters because recent search phases produced no findings and the contract carries a conditional payout.
Families and Voice370 Urge Extension of Ocean Infinity Contract
Voice370, the group representing families of those onboard, urged the government to grant any request from Ocean Infinity to extend its agreement and to expand the same terms to other interested exploration firms. The group said it was unlikely Ocean Infinity would resume searching before the contract ends in June because of the coming southern-hemisphere winter and deteriorating sea conditions. “A simple addendum extending the contract period without altering the core terms of the agreement would allow the search to continue without delay, ” Voice370 said.
Malaysia Airlines Flight Mh370 Search Yields No Findings After Two Phases
Malaysia’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said operations had not yielded any findings so far after two search phases that together covered 28 days and about 7, 571 square kilometres of seabed, and that the second phase ended on 23 January. The Boeing 777 was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. Multiple search operations in the southern Indian Ocean since then have proved fruitless.
Ocean Infinity Reports 151 Days at Sea and 140, 000 Square Kilometres Mapped
Ocean Infinity departed the search area on 23 January 2026 after the latest phase of work. Since first embarking on missions in 2018, it has spent 151 days at sea and mapped more than 140, 000 square kilometres of seafloor. Oliver Plunkett, Ocean Infinity’s CEO, said: “If nothing else, we can say with confidence that it isn’t where we looked. ” The company previously agreed to resume the hunt under a “no find, no fee” principle, with payment of $70 million only if the wreckage was located.
Prior Ocean Infinity searches and earlier efforts by others failed to find substantive wreckage, and Malaysian investigators in a 2018 report drew no conclusion about what happened aboard the flight, while not ruling out the possibility the aircraft had been deliberately taken off course.
The contract with Ocean Infinity is due to expire in June; families have requested an extension and possible expansion of the search terms, with any formal extension expected to be decided before the agreement lapses in June at 12: 00 a. m. ET.
