Hunt for Malaysia Airlines MH370 resumes decade after disappearance

• The search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has resumed off Australia, led by Ocean Infinity.
• The firm will search for 18 months and be paid $70 million if they find the wreck.
• MH370 disappeared in March 2014 with 239 people on board; pieces were found near Tanzania and Mozambique.

The search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has resumed off the coast of Australia 11 years after the plane disappeared.

The Malaysian Transport Minister confirmed on Tuesday a private firm was again searching for the plane, with the new search area about 1500km west of Perth.

MH370 was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014. The plane, 227 passengers and 12 crew have never been found. Six Australians and a New Zealander living in Western Australia were on board.

The mammoth initial search covered three millionsq km above the water and more than 120,000 square kilometres under the sea.

This latest search is being done by British firm Ocean Infinity, which has previously been involved.

A family member writes on a message board for passengers, onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 during a 5 Years of Remembrance for Malaysian Airlines MH370 event. Photo / Getty Images

Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the contract between his Government and Ocean Infinity was being negotiated, but the firm had proactively deployed ships.

Ship tracking shows Ocean Infinity’s supply ship was about 9000km west of Perth on Sunday.

The Malaysian Government announced in December the search would resume, saying the British firm would search for 18 months and be paid $70m, but only if they found the wreck.

The Australian Government offered funding last year on the 10th anniversary; however, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau is not involved in this latest effort.

MH370 was last seen on military radar about 90 minutes after take off, heading west over the strait of Malacca, between Malaysia and Indonesia.

Half an hour after the last radar sighting, the airline announced it had lost contact with the plane.

Pieces of the plane have been found near Tanzania and Mozambique.

Australian authorities searched for almost three years; the final report concluded not delivering answers was “almost inconceivable”.