On December 30, 2025, Ocean Infinity (OI) begin its third campaign to find MH370 on the seabed in the Southern Indian Ocean (SIO). The search vessel is Armada 8605, which is equipped with a team of three Hugin Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). This search continues in the general area that was started in March 2025 using the vessel Armada 7806.
The map above shows how this campaign relates to previous efforts, including:
Original area searched by the ATSB. This part of the 7th arc was searched by GO Phoenix ship using a towed vehicle (“towfish”) with synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) starting in October 2014 and completing its mission in June 2015.
Area searched by OI in 2018. In early 2018, OI expanded the area searched previously by the ATSB. The area was extended outwards to around 59 km (32 NM) from the 7th arc and inwards to around 46 km (25 NM) from the 7th arc, and along the 7th arc between 36S latitude to 24.7S latitude. After searching around 120,000 square kilometers, which matched the total area covered previously by the ATSB, the MH370 debris field was not found.
UGIB Last Estimated Position. In March 2020, an extensive data-driven study was released by Ulich, Godfrey, Iannello, and Banks (UGIB 2020) which reconstructed the path of MH370 based on data sets and information from satellite, radar, aircraft performance, navigation systems, drift analysis, aerial search results, and archived weather. Assuming no pilot inputs after 19:41z, the study predicted that MH370 crossed the 7th arc around 34.23S, 93.78E, designated the Last Estimated Position (LEP). In June 2023, Ulich and Iannello subsequently incorporated results from an updated drift model that was used to refine the search area recommendation, including the possibility of a 70-NM glide after fuel exhaustion.
High Priority Search Area. In February 2023, Iannello recommended a search area that should be prioritized. Located on a steep slope about 33 km due south of the LEP and 27 km from the 7th arc, the area was not scanned by GO Phoenix’s towfish and appeared to have been only partially scanned by Ocean Infinity’s AUVs during the first campaign in 2018.
OI Proposed Search Area. At the 10th anniversary of the disappearance in March 2024, OI announced its intention to conduct another search for MH370. The area proposed by OI at that time centered approximately around the specific location (34.23S, 93.78E) from UGIB 2020, designated on OI’s map as the “IG Hot Spot”.
Track of Armada 7806. This track can be used to estimate the areas searched during the OI campaign that began in March 2025. Although the exact area scanned by the AUVs is not known, Armada 7806’s path to launch and recover the AUVs gives us a good idea of the area covered. The search area includes the UGIB LEP, the High Priority Search Zone, areas where data quality from previous searches was poor due to rough terrain or equipment malfunctions, and other unsearched areas within the OI Proposed Search Area.
Likely Progression Armada 8605. The current search seems to be methodically progressing to complete the areas within the OI Proposed Search Area that were not searched in March 2025. The search began on December 30, 2025, with unsearched parts of the proposed area (red rectangle) that is outwards (southeast) of the 7th arc. This area would include an unsearched area due south of the UGIB LEP and the High Priority Search area. These locations (the LEP and High Priority Search Areas) were based on a reconstructed flight path that was determined to statistically favor due south, so unsearched areas further along the due south trajectory is of high interest and will be reached soon by Armada 8605 and its AUVs.
Acknowledgement. This article has benefited from the many private discussions with Mike Exner, Don Thompson, Bobby Ulich, and Andrew Banks.