There’s a hopeful update, as the search for MH370, Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 777 that vanished more than ten years ago, will soon resume. Nevertheless, it’s challenging to be overly optimistic at this moment, though that won’t prevent me from keeping my fingers crossed…
MH370 is the greatest enigma of contemporary aviation
Arguably the most enigmatic commercial aviation disaster is the fate of MH370, the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER that disappeared in March 2014. The aircraft was transporting 239 individuals from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Beijing (PEK) when it vanished from radar shortly after its departure.
Aviation is exceptionally safe, and incidents are exceedingly infrequent, making any occurrence unfortunate. However, what elevates this situation is the plane’s complete absence. Generally, when a plane goes off radar, it indicates where the aircraft crashed. Unfortunately, that was not the case here — how can a 777 just vanish?
We’ve encountered numerous theories regarding what might have transpired, and a 2023 Netflix documentary took an in-depth look at this mystery. Was there a disastrous technical malfunction? Was it a meticulously orchestrated terrorist act by the pilot? While small fragments of the aircraft have been discovered, a significant portion of it remains missing.
For three years following the incident, a worldwide investigation was conducted, costing hundreds of millions of dollars, covering 120,000 square kilometers of ocean. The official search was concluded in early 2017. However, in 2018, seabed exploration company Ocean Infinity reignited the search for a few months on a “no find, no fee” basis, under a contract with the Malaysian government.
Regrettably, that effort did not yield results, and leading up to 2025, no substantial attempts were made to locate the wreck. Fortunately, there’s a positive development, which might be the final realistic opportunity to resolve this enigma.
Ocean Infinity reinitiates search for MH370 wreckage
In December 2024, the Malaysian government revealed that it had come to a preliminary agreement to restart the search for MH370. The country’s transportation minister, Anthony Loke, disclosed that an agreement of $70 million was reached with Ocean Infinity, the same firm that participated in previous searches.
Once again, this was established on a “no find, no fee” agreement, where Ocean Infinity will only be compensated if significant wreckage is located. In March 2025, Ocean Infinity’s support vessel, Armanda 7806, along with autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), was dispatched to a new search region in the South Indian Ocean, approximately 1,900 kilometers from the coast of Perth, Australia.
This time, the search concentrated specifically on a 15,000 square kilometer zone, compared to the 200,000 square kilometers previously explored. However, bad weather led to the cessation of the search in April 2025.
Well, several months later, this search will be picking up again. The Malaysian government has confirmed that Ocean Infinity will restart its search before the end of the year, spanning a duration of 55 days. According to the government’s announcement:
The Government of Malaysia wishes to announce that the deep-sea search for the missing wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 will recommence on 30 December 2025.
Ocean Infinity has communicated with the Government of Malaysia that it will resume seabed search operations for a total of 55 days, to be executed intermittently. The search will occur in a targeted area assessed to possess the highest likelihood of locating the aircraft, in line with the service agreement established between the Government of Malaysia and Ocean Infinity on 25 March 2025.
Clearly, Ocean Infinity must have a good level of confidence in its success, otherwise, it wouldn’t be investing its own resources into this endeavor. Admittedly, this is part of the same initiative that started earlier in the year. So what has shifted compared to earlier search operations? Well, the area of focus is specifically based on new data that the Malaysian government has deemed “credible.”
One does wonder how much wreckage remains at this stage. I suppose it hinges on how the plane affected the water upon impact, and whether it remained intact during its descent or disintegrated into numerous pieces.
I’m definitely hoping that the wreckage is located this time around, and that this proves