U.S. firm uses its tech in new search for missing Malaysia Airlines jet
Malaysia Airlines
flight MH370 was heading from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, when it suddenly disappeared off the radar. Despite an extensive and costly search effort covering vast parts of the southern Indian Ocean, the aircraft and its 239 crew and passengers have yet to be found. ...
But now, following months of negotiations, U.S. seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity is offering some hope. The company has signed a contract with the Malaysian government that will allow it to use its powerful search technology to explore another part of the ocean on a “no find, no fee” basis.
Ocean Infinity’s vessel, Seabed Constructor, is already on its way to the
search area in the southern Indian Ocean, with the deep-sea exploration scheduled to begin on January 17.
The Texas-based company will receive as much as $70 million if it finds the aircraft, the Malaysian government confirmed this week, and it has just 90 days in which to do so. ...
Ocean Infinity will focus on a region of around 10,000 square miles
identified as an area of interest by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau believes there is a “high probability” that the plane is located somewhere in that zone. ...
Seabed Constructor has 65 crew on board and is carrying eight autonomous underwater vehicles that can search in greater detail (with HD cameras and an array of sensors), as well as four times faster, than earlier efforts. Six unmanned surface vessels work with the underwater vehicles for precise positioning and communications, Ocean Infinity says on
its website.
It’s the first time the company has taken on such a project, but its experience using deep-sea technology for seabed mapping and imaging, marine geological surveys, and environmental monitoring stands it in good stead. ...