Malaysia has agreed to resume the search for the wreckage of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, more than 10 years after it disappeared in one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.
The Boeing 777 was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, including six Australian citizens and one New Zealand resident of Western Australia, when it vanished on the way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March 2014.
A spokesperson from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was aware Malaysia had accepted an offer to resume the search.
"Malaysia carries overall responsibility for the search and investigation of MH370 because it is the state of registration for the aircraft that went missing in international waters," the spokesperson told SBS News in a statement.
"The Australian Government is supportive of all credible efforts to find MH370."
More than 150 Chinese passengers were also on the flight, along with 50 Malaysians and citizens of France, Indonesia, India, the United States, Ukraine and Canada, among others.
"Our responsibility and obligation and commitment is to the next of kin," Malaysian transport minister Anthony Loke told a news conference on Friday.
"We hope this time will be positive, that the wreckage will be found and give closure to the families."
Loke said Malaysia had agreed to a new search operation by maritime exploration firm Ocean Infinity, which also carried out an unsuccessful hunt in 2018.
The company's first efforts followed a massive Australian-led search for the aircraft that lasted three years before it was suspended in January 2017.
Loke said a new 15,000 square kilometre area of the southern Indian Ocean would be scoured by Ocean Infinity, which is based in the United Kingdom and United States.
"The new search area proposed by Ocean Infinity is based on the latest information and data analysis conducted by experts and researchers," Loke said.
"The proposal for a search operation by Ocean Infinity is a solid one and deserves to be considered," he told reporters.
Search to resume as soon as contract finalised
The Malaysian government said it agreed to Ocean Infinity's proposal "in principle" on 13 December, with the transport ministry expected to finalise terms by early 2025.
The new search will resume "as soon as the contract is finalised and signed by both parties", Loke said.
"They have informed us that the ideal time for the search in the designated waters is between January and April. We are working to finalise the agreement as quickly as possible," he said.
The new search will be on the same "no find, no fee" principle as Ocean Infinity's previous search, with the government only paying out if they find the aircraft.
The contract is for 18 months and Malaysia will pay US$70 million ($111.7 million) to the company if the plane is found, Loke said.
Ten years on, still few clues to what happened to MH370
The original Australia-led search covered 120,000 square kilometres in the Indian Ocean but found hardly any trace of the plane, with only some pieces of debris picked up.
A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually.
'No guarantees'
Asked if he was confident the plane will be found during the new search, Loke said: "At this point, no one can provide guarantees.
"It has been over 10 years, and it would be unfair to expect a concrete commitment. However, under the terms and conditions, any discovery must be credible. It cannot just be a few fragments; there are specific criteria outlined in the contract."
"I truly hope there will be an end to the loss of MH370. May all questions be answered," Malaysian Rosila Abu Samah, 60, the stepmother of one of the passengers, told the AFP news agency.
Malaysian Shim Kok Chau, 49, whose wife was a flight attendant on the ill-fated flight, said he had come to accept her fate but hopes to know what happened to the plane, "why it happened and who did it".
