New MH370 search to begin as Ocean Infinity expands deep-sea capabilities
A new deep-sea search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is set to begin before the turn of the year, as marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity prepares to deploy a significantly upgraded fleet of autonomous underwater systems. The mission signals the most technologically advanced effort yet to locate the aircraft, more than 11 years after it vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Ocean Infinity, the US- and UK-based marine robotics company, will launch a large-scale survey of a 15,000km2 area in the southern Indian Ocean. Deep-sea operations are scheduled to resume on 30 December and will run intermittently over a 55-day window, Malaysia’s transport ministry confirmed on Wednesday.
Coordinated uncrewed swarms
The company plans to deploy coordinated ‘swarms’ of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), supported by uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) that relay data and manage mission planning. These AUVs can hover tens of metres above the seabed and map terrain at depths approaching 6,000 metres, using multibeam sonar, sub-bottom profilers and high-resolution imaging. Ocean Infinity says its upgraded system can cover larger areas at higher resolution and with a smaller carbon footprint than traditional crewed survey fleets.
The renewed search is being conducted under a ‘no find, no fee’ arrangement. Malaysia’s transport minister previously stated that Ocean Infinity would receive US$70 million if it locates the wreckage. The search zone has been refined using updated analyses of satellite ‘handshake’ signals and debris-drift modelling.
The mission follows two major earlier efforts: a multinational campaign involving 60 ships and 50 aircraft from 26 countries, which ended in 2017, and a 2018 Ocean Infinity mission that concluded after a couple of months. Despite years of investigation and thousands of square kilometres mapped, MH370’s main wreckage has never been found, though confirmed debris has washed ashore on the east African coast and several Indian Ocean islands.
Flight MH370 lost contact with air traffic control less than an hour after departing Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on 8 March 2014, with 239 people on board. Its disappearance remains one of modern aviation’s most enduring unsolved cases.
