A British company has launched a search for the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 in what could be the last search of its kind. Ocean Infinity, a British marine robotics company, has begun scouring the seabed in the Indian Ocean in a bid to find the wreck of MH370.
The Boeing 777 disappeared in March 2014 while on its way to Beijing, China, from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia with 239 people on board in one of aviation's greatest mysteries. Ocean Infinity’s deep-water support vessel Armada 7806 began the search in the Indian Ocean 1,200 miles off Perth, Australia, over the weekend, according to ship tracking data.
Autonomous underwater vehicles are reported to have been deployed hours after arrival, which are taking detailed scans of the seabed. These are being operated from Ocean Infinity's control centre in Southampton, The Telegraph reported. Kuala Lumpur in December agreed the outlines of a ‘no find, no fee’ £56m deal with Ocean Infinity to scour for the plane’s wreckage.
However, the company is reported to have done ahead with the search before the onset of winter in the Southern Hemisphere. A 2018 search by Ocean Infinity was unsuccessful after three months. A multinational search costing £120m ended in 2017 after two years, with the governments involved - Malaysia, Australia and China - saying searches should only be resumed if there is credible evidence of the aircraft’s location.
The Boeing 777 plane vanished from radar shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 people, mostly Chinese nationals, on a flight from Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, to Beijing. Satellite data showed the plane deviated from its flight path to head over the southern Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed.
