The search by the private firm Ocean Infinity, commissioned by the Malaysian government, has now moved to a second area of the 25,000 sq km primary search region, according to a report by Airline Ratings.
The report, quoting an update posted on Feb 27 by Malaysia’s MH370 Response Team, said Ocean Infinity’s search ship, the Seabed Constructor, had been able to launch all eight of its autonomous underwater vehicles following favourable weather conditions, after some bad weather earlier.
The Seabed Constructor is searching an area on the northern leg of the 25,000 sq km area defined in the Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s (ATSB) final report as the most likely resting place of the missing Boeing 777.
MH370 disappeared in March 2014 with 239 people on board en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and efforts to find it have so far drawn a blank.
Airline Ratings said Ocean Infinity had a “no cure, no fee” deal with the Malaysian government and that it would be paid US$20 million if the debris was found in the 5000 sq km primary search area, US$30 million in the 10,000 sq km secondary zone and US$50 million in the 10,000 sq km tertiary area.
The three zones make up a 25,000 sq km area defined in ATSB’s report but Ocean Infinity will get US$70 million if it locates the debris outside this zone. A number of experts have suggested this is where the missing plane may be, according to the report.
The media had earlier reported that those following the search mission were alarmed when the vessel “disappeared” from satellite tracking between Feb 1 and Feb 4.
This resulted in various conspiracy theories, including rumours it had detoured for a treasure hunt and that there was a power-struggle in the investigating team.
Foriegn media reported that the MH370 search had initially been overseen by eight civilian aviation experts, including Malaysian and foreign officials, but that later four, including the lead authority on analysing black box flight data and voice recorders, were replaced with seven fighter and helicopter pilots from the Royal Malaysian Airforce.
However, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai explained that this was because the Seabed Constructor’s transponder had been switched off. “But it is all normal, and if they want to switch it off, they have every right to do so,” Liow had told the media.He said this was no cause for worry.