The MH370 Mystery: Malaysia To Resume Search For Flight That Vanished 11 Years Ago

To further its effort of providing closure to the families affected by the vanishing of flight MH370 of the Malaysian Airlines, the transport ministry of Malaysia on Wednesday announced that the search for the flight will resume on Dec. 30.

On March 8, 2014, a Boeing 777 plane carrying 239 people went off the radar shortly after taking off from Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur. The plane had mostly Chinese nationals and was bound for Beijing.

The plane is believed to have crashed after satellite data showed it turning from flight path and heading south to the far-southern Indian Ocean.

US-based robotics firm Ocean Infinity will resume its deep sea hunt for the plane for a total of 55 days starting Dec. 30, the transport ministry highlighted in a statement.

The statement added that Ocean Infinity will conduct a intermittent search for the flight in selected areas believed to have the highest likelihood of finding the missing aircraft.

"The latest development underscores the government of Malaysia’s commitment in providing closure to the families affected by this tragedy," the statement emphasised.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that the Chinese government appreciates the efforts made by the Malaysian side.

Earlier in March, the Malaysian Government had signed a "no-find, no-fee" contract with Ocean Infinity which entailed that the robotics firm will receive its $70 million fee only if it is able to find the debris of the plane.

The search had come to a stop in April mainly because of bad weather. Multiple searches conducted over the years have failed to produce any concrete results.

Among these was multinational search which failed find any clues to its location, although wreckage like a wing fragment had washed ashore on the east African coast and Indian Ocean islands; additionally a private search by Ocean Infinity had ceased to turn up with any concrete findings.