KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been postponed to next summer in the Southern Hemisphere due to seasonal weather changes and prior commercial commitments by Ocean Infinity.
According to a Facebook post today by the Association for Families of the Passengers and Crew on board MH370, the marine robotics company had arrived at the proposed search zone earlier but only officially began searching on March 25 after signing the contract.
“Ocean Infinity suspended their search on March 28 and shall resume the search during the next summer in the Southern Hemisphere,” the association said in the posting.
Ocean Infinity previously attempted to locate the missing aircraft using the Seabed Constructor between January and May 2018 under a “no cure, no fee” contract with the Malaysian government.
Founded in 2017, the company is based in Austin, United States, and Southampton, United Kingdom, and specialises in using robotics to collect data from the ocean and seabed.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke had previously said the government has signed an agreement with Ocean Infinity to resume the search for MH370.
However, he said yesterday that while the agreement has been finalised, the search has been paused due to adverse weather conditions.
Loke added that the search would resume at the end of the year.
