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January 24, 2018

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New hunt for missing plane gets under way

Source: AFP | 00:01 UTC+8 January 24, 2018 | Print Edition

A new hunt for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 using high-tech underwater drones has started, in the latest bid to solve one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries.

A ship operated by exploration firm Ocean Infinity arrived at the search area in the Indian Ocean on Monday and launched the drones, Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said yesterday.

“The vessel Seabed Constructor has arrived at the search area and commenced the search operation,” he said in a statement.

The plane disappeared in March 2014 with 239 people, mostly from China, on board, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

No sign of the plane was found in a 120,000-square- kilometer sea search zone and the Australian-led hunt, the largest in aviation history, was suspended in January last year.

Ocean Infinity struck a deal with the Malaysian government to restart the hunt on a private basis and will only be paid if it finds the plane or its black boxes. It stands to make up to US$70 million if successful.

The new search zone is an area of about 25,000 square kilometers in the southern Indian Ocean, north of the former search area. The hunt will last a maximum of three months.

The ship conducting the hunt is a Norwegian research vessel carrying 65 crew, including two members of the Malaysian navy as the government’s representatives.

It is using eight autonomous drones, equipped with sonars and cameras, that will scour the waters for wreckage and can operate in depths up to 6,000 meters.

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