Malaysian MH370 oppdatering - Curt Lewis

Malaysia says new search for flight MH370 to end mid-June

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A search by a U.S. firm for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is expected to complete its survey by mid-June, the Southeast Asian nation said on Saturday, as families marked the fourth anniversary of one of aviation's greatest mysteries.

Flight MH370, carrying 239 people, disappeared on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

Australia, China and Malaysia ended an unsuccessful A$200-million ($159.38 million) search across a 120,000 square-kilometer area in the Indian Ocean in January 2017, despite investigators urging authorities to extend the operation 25,000 sq km north of the search area.

Earlier this year, Malaysia agreed to pay U.S. firm Ocean Infinity up to $70 million if it found the plane within 90 days. The search vessel, the Seabed Constructor, began its search on Jan. 23.

The 90-day agreement, however, did not include days for the search vessel to travel to a port for refueling, Civil Aviation Authority chairman Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said.

"The vessel has a working cycle of 26 days before it needs to refuel and resupply," Azharuddin said at a memorial event marking the fourth year of the plane's disappearance.

Plans to recover the Boeing 777's wreckage or its flight recorders, in the event the aircraft is found, will be finalised in two weeks, and will involve several Malaysian and Australian agencies, he said.

Malaysia will take custody of any parts recovered from the seabed, he said.

The Seabed Constructor has completed the first part of its search, covering 8,200 sq km, and has now moved into a new area, Ocean Infinity said in its weekly update on Tuesday.

It has not yet made any significant findings, the firm said.

Saturday's memorial event featured talks and musical performances, as families paid tributes to the passengers and crew aboard the aircraft.

"We want to remind everyone that MH370 is not history, it's the future," said Grace Nathan, a lawyer whose mother, Anne Daisy, was on the plane.

"It's very important in the interests of aviation safety that we find MH370, so that we can prevent something like this from happening again," she said.

Investigators are divided on whether the aircraft suffered a mechanical failure or whether it was deliberately diverted over the southern Indian Ocean.

Debris has been collected from Indian Ocean islands and Africa's east coast and at least three pieces have been confirmed as coming from the missing plane.

Plan to assemble MH370 wreckage pieces to be finalised by mid March

KUALA LUMPUR: The move to assemble MH370 wreckage pieces is in the last phase of preparation will be finalised by the mid of this month.

Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) chairman, Datuk Seri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, said the plan was devised by Malaysia with inputs from Australian experts.

He said the plan includes technical preparation and the related equipment to bring up the wreckage of the aircraft which maybe found at a depth of 6,000 metres in the southern reaches of the Indian Ocean.

The plan was initially agreed upon in 2014 when we conducted search in a 160,000 square kilometre area which at that time was led by Australia.

"But now, the search is being led by Malaysia, so we need to consider drawing up a plan to reconstruct the debris of the plane and the black box with the cooperation of various agencies and local experts.

"The purpose of the plan is to enable further follow up action to be taken in the event the underwater search by the Seabed Constructor, owned by Ocean Infinity Limited, finds MH370," he said today.

Azharuddin was speaking to reporters at the fourth year commemoration of the MH370 incident, here.

Present was Deputy Secretary-General of the Transport Ministry, Mohd Khairul Adib Abd Rahman and CAAM chief executive officer, Ahmad Nizar Zolfakar.

He further explained that Seabed Constructor which is equipped with eight autonomous underwater vehicles has the ability to conduct a 26 day cycle search operation.

Azharuddin said as such the 90 days allocated under the terms of the MH370 search contract, signed by Malaysia with Ocean Infinity Limited excludes time for the vessel's return journey to its pier for maintenance and resupply services.

"We expect the MH370 search handled by Ocean Infinity would be completed around June or July of this year and it involves an area of 25,000 square kilometre.

"As such it is too early for us to conclude the possibility that the search efforts for te MH370 in the Indian Ocean will be met with failure.

"In any case, the next of kin would be given priority on the latest development's involving our search efforts. In fact we produce weekly reports every Tuesday based on information received from two Royal Malaysian Navy members who are attached with the mission led by Seabed Constructor," he said.

Malaysia signed a deal with the United States-based exploration firm Ocean Infinity Limited to officially continue the search for the missing aircraft.

The deal is on a "no cure, no fee" whereby debris found within the first 5,000 sq km will be paid US$20 million (RM82 million), and for the subsequent 10,000 sq km, a sum of US$30 million (RM122 million) will be paid; and for another 10,000 sqkm, US$50 million (RM204 million) will be paid.

Beyond that area, Ocean Infinity will be paid a total of US$70 million (RM280 million), however the search must be completed within a 90-day time frame.

Australia, Malaysia and China called off their two-year search for the plane a year ago after finding nothing in a 120,000-sq-km underwater search zone.

Flight MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014 with 239 people, mostly Chinese, on board.