Malaysia extends MH370 search deal with Ocean Infinity by one year

Malaysia extended its deal with Ocean Infinity for another year on the MH370 search after the Malaysian Cabinet approved the move on June 26, the transport ministry said. The contract now runs from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027, and is intended to clear the remaining 7,428.54 square kilometers of search area in the southern Indian Ocean.

The renewed hunt keeps alive a search effort that began after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared in 2014 with 227 passengers and 12 crew aboard, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. More than 12 years later, no wreckage has been found despite multiple search operations in the southern Indian Ocean, and the latest extension preserves Ocean Infinity’s “no find, no fee” arrangement, under which the company would be paid $70 million only if it locates the aircraft.

The extra year is as much about logistics as it is about hope. The search that began in March 2025 was later suspended because weather conditions were unsuitable, and Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the hunt was “not the season” to scour the Indian Ocean. Ocean Infinity’s other commercial commitments mean its primary assets will need to be redeployed between November 2026 and April 2027, the calm sea season, making the new contract window useful for scheduling the work rather than simply extending the paperwork.

Families of MH370 passengers urged Malaysia on March 8 to extend the search, a reminder that the flight remains both a global aviation mystery and a private loss for hundreds of relatives who have spent years without answers. Loke said the Cabinet decision reflected the government’s “continuous and unwavering commitment” to giving next of kin closure.

This is not the first time Ocean Infinity has taken on the task. The company carried out an unsuccessful search in 2018, and the most recent effort in 2025 also ended without locating the aircraft. Malaysia’s earlier 2025 agreement covered a 15,000-square-kilometer area, leaving the current extension focused on the last stretch of seabed still under review. For families, the new contract does not guarantee a breakthrough, but it keeps open the possibility that the wreckage, and at least some explanation for one of aviation’s most enduring losses, may still be found.