Hunt for MH370 to resume tomorrow

The search continues: The ‘Seabed Constructor’ berthing at the Australian Marine Complex for a scheduled refuelling at Fremantle, Perth. — AFP

PUTRAJAYA: Seabed Constructor, the vessel deployed to search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, will resume its search tomorrow.

Department of Civil Aviation director-general Datuk Seri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said: “The ship is currently refuelling and restocking supplies at Fremantle, Perth, Western Australia, and will be leaving port this Sunday.”

Azharuddin said he was satisfied with what he saw on board the search vessel which had sophisticated equipment and eight Autonomous Underwater Vehicles.

“They are very professional and have been very transparent about the complex operation,” he said when contacted in Australia yesterday.

Azharuddin also met with two Royal Malaysian Navy personnel who had been seconded to the vessel and was given a satisfactory progress report.

Seabed Constructor resumed the search in the Indian Ocean on Jan 22, but the vessel had turned off its monitoring system for three days without explanation.

On Wednesday, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai assured that the search mission was on course and the company had “every right” to switch off their transponder.

Ocean Infinity, the US-based company engaged by Malaysia for the search mission, has 90 days to find MH370 on a “no cure, no fee” basis.

If it manages to find the aircraft, the company will be rewarded between US$20mil (RM78mil) and US$70mil (RM273mil), depen­ding on the area the plane is found.

The Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines flight, with 239 people on board, went missing on March 8, 2014, after departing from Kuala Lumpur.

An earlier Australian-led search for the plane was suspended in January 2017, after it failed to find the missing aircraft, despite co­vering a 120,000 sq km area in the southern Indian Ocean.