KUALA LUMPUR: Marine robotics company Ocean Infinity is all geared up to resume the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Its chief executive officer Oliver Plunkett told the New Straits Times that a proposal for the new search has already been submitted to the Malaysian government.
He said, ever since they stopped the search mission in 2018, they have been focusing on innovating technologies and robotics to enhance their search capabilities.
"We now feel in a position to be able to return to the search for MH370, and have submitted a proposal to the Malaysian government.
"Finding MH370 and bringing some resolution for all connected with the loss of the aircraft has been a constant in our minds since we left the southern Indian Ocean in 2018.
"Since then, we have focused on driving the transformation of operations at sea; innovating with technology and robotics to further advance our ocean search capabilities," he said.
Plunkett, however, did not divulge details on the proposal, nor new search areas or the latest credible leads that warranted a resumation of the search.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke had yesterday said he has invited Ocean Infinity to discuss a "no cure, no fee" proposal to resume the search for MH370.
He had said the Malaysian government's position remained consistent and it would commission a further search operation when new information and credible evidence were accepted.
The government, he added, was willing to restart the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, even if it is costly.
Plunkett said the company was working with many experts to continue analysing the data in the hopes of narrowing the search area.
"This search is arguably the most challenging, and indeed the most pertinent one out there.
"We've been working with many experts, some outside of Ocean Infinity, to continue analysing the data in the hopes of narrowing the search area down to one in which success becomes potentially achievable.
"We hope to get back to the search soon," he said.
On March 8, 2014, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing vanished from radar somewhere above the South China Sea.
It had 12 crew members and 227 passengers aboard at the time.
A multinational search was conducted in the vicinity but it was later learned that the aircraft had turned back and flown across the peninsula before turning north, rounding Sumatera and then flying south.
It was surmised that the aircraft ended up in the southern Indian Ocean, somewhere west of Perth.
Underwater searches for the plane in the Indian Ocean have covered 120,000 sq km and cost about RM605 million, the costliest search in aviation history. The search was suspended in January 2017.
In 2018, Ocean Infinity embarked on a three-month "no cure, no fee" search covering about 112,000 sq km but this was also concluded without any new discovery.