Ocean Infinity Hired to Locate MH370

A new chapter in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has begun with the announcement of Texas-based firm Ocean Infinity being hired to locate the missing wreckage. They could reap up to US$70 million if they are successful, however if they fail, they will get no fee at all.

The announcement follows the suspension of the joint Malay-Chinese-Australian search for the missing plane in January 2017, following almost three years of intensive, but ultimately fruitless search efforts to locate the fuselage and flight recorders at an estimated cost of US$200 million.

The Ocean Infinity-operated vessel ‘Seabed Constructor’ is believed to have already begun its search with its fleet of eight AUVs.

Ocean Infinity will scan the area identified by the Australian Transport Safety Board (ATSB) as the next most likely area for MH370, which was informed by the CSIRO’s sophisticated drift modelling — a vindication of the science and data informing the Australian-led portion of the search in the Indian Ocean, despite its controversial cancellation by the Malaysian government.

“The oceanographic reason for why 35 [degrees south] is more likely than say 34, or 33, or 32, is that at all those latitudes the current is going to the east. So if the crash had been in any of those latitudes then there’d be a high chance of at least one or two things turning up in Australia. Whereas there’ve been 20 or 30 items turning up in Africa, and not a single one came to Australia. Once you start looking in the vicinity of 36 to 32, then 35 is the only option.” said Dr David Griffin, who led the drift analysis for CSIRO.

Ocean Infinity’s fleet of eight AUVs are equipped with a broad range of sensors including side scan sonar, multi-beam echosounder, sub-bottom profiler, HD camera, conductivity/temperature/depth sensor, self-compensating magnetometer, synthetic aperture sonar and a turbidity sensor. Operating from the Seabed Constructor, the AUVs are capable of ‘flying’ at depths between 5 and 6,000 metres.

“Whilst there can be no guarantees of locating the aircraft, we believe our system of multiple autonomous vehicles working simultaneously is well suited to the task at hand. I wish our team the best of luck in their endeavors and sincerely hope that we will be able to play a part in providing some answers to the many people affected by this tragedy.” said Oliver Plunkett, Ocean Infinity CEO.