On Sunday, MH370 family member V.P.R. Nathan presented several slides highlighting Ocean Infinity’s willingness to conduct another subsea search for the debris field of the aircraft. The search area, which may be refined later, extends along the 7th arc from about 33°S to 36°S, and out to about 45 NM (83 km) on either side of the arc. Ocean Infinity also plans to “fill-in” areas that were previously searched that had low quality or missing data due to equipment failures or challenging terrain.
The proposal is broadly consistent with the flight reconstruction and recommended search area that we presented in UGIB 2020 and the subsequent drift study. In fact, the “Last Estimated Position” (LEP) presented in those studies is designated the “IG Hotspot” in the slide. The proposed search area will also incorporate our high priority area due south of the LEP that was missed by the previous searches by the ATSB and Ocean Infinity due to the steeply sloping terrain in that area.
So, will Malaysia accept Ocean Infinity’s offer to conduct another search with the proposed terms of “no-find, no-fee”? At Sunday’s event, Transport Minister Anthony Loke expressed an interest in discussing the new proposal with Ocean Infinity. However, both he and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim cautioned that a new search would be conducted only if there was “credible new evidence”. So, although we may be seeing progress towards a new search, it is unclear whether or not Malaysia will accept Ocean Infinity’s proposal.