KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 — Malaysia has extended its agreement with marine robotics company Ocean Infinity for another year to continue the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, allowing the company to complete the remaining priority search area in the southern Indian Ocean.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced that the Cabinet had approved a 12-month extension of the existing agreement, which will now run from 1 July 2026 until 30 June 2027. The extension retains the existing “no find, no fee” arrangement under which Ocean Infinity will receive US$70 million only if the aircraft wreckage is successfully located.
Loke said the decision reflects Malaysia’s continued commitment to providing answers to the families of those on board.
“This decision is a manifestation of the government’s continuous and unwavering commitment to provide closure for the next of kin of the passengers aboard flight MH370,” he said in a statement.
Looking for the full background? Read our earlier analysis: MH370 Search Resumes 11 Years After Disappearance
Why was another extension needed?
The latest announcement reveals that Ocean Infinity has not yet completed the designated search area.
According to Loke, approximately 7,428.54 sq km of the priority search zone remain to be surveyed. The extension was approved to allow the company to complete this remaining area after its primary search assets were temporarily reassigned to fulfil new commercial contracts.
He added that these assets are expected to return to the southern Indian Ocean between November 2026 and April 2027, when calmer sea conditions provide the safest and most effective operating window for deep-sea search operations.
Latest search ended earlier this year
The extension follows Ocean Infinity’s most recent search campaign, which concluded in January 2026.
In a statement issued in March, the company confirmed that its vessel departed the search area on 23 January 2026 after completing the latest phase of operations.
Ocean Infinity said that since 2018, across its MH370 missions, it has now spent 151 days at sea and surveyed more than 140,000 sq km of seabed using autonomous underwater vehicles and advanced seabed mapping technology.
Despite the extensive search, no trace of the aircraft was located.
Ocean Infinity Chief Executive Oliver Plunkett had described MH370 as one of the most technically challenging searches ever undertaken, saying:
If nothing else, we can say with confidence that it isn’t where we looked.
One of Aviation’s Greatest Mysteries
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March 2014 while operating a scheduled service from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board.
Although dozens of pieces of debris believed to have originated from the aircraft have since been recovered along the coasts of Africa and islands in the western Indian Ocean, the main wreckage has never been found.
The disappearance triggered one of the largest and most expensive searches in aviation history. International efforts between 2014 and 2017 searched approximately 120,000 sq km of the southern Indian Ocean before being suspended. Ocean Infinity subsequently conducted a search in 2018 under a similar “no find, no fee” arrangement before returning for the latest campaign in 2025–26.
The search has now spanned more than 12 years, with multiple international and private search campaigns. The timeline below highlights the key milestones.
What Happens Next?
Ocean Infinity is expected to return to the southern Indian Ocean during the next favorable weather window, typically between November and April, to complete the remaining 7,428.54 sq km priority search area. The company will continue operating under the existing “no find, no fee” agreement, receiving payment only if the wreckage is successfully located.
More than twelve years after MH370 disappeared, the renewed mission represents another opportunity to search the remaining priority area using improved underwater technology and refined search modelling. Whether it finally leads investigators to the aircraft remains uncertain, but for the families of the 239 people on board, the search is not yet over.
Cover image: Adapted from a photograph of 9M-MRO, the Boeing 777-200ER operating Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. Credit: Ohconfucius / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
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