Trying to understand what’s going on with the latest seabed search for MH370 is like reading tea leaves. Neither the Malaysian government, which is responsible for solving the mystery, nor Ocean Infinity, the marine survey company looking for the plane, has been very forthcoming about what they’re doing. So it was a nice change of pace when the Minister of Transport, Anthony Loke stood up at a press conference on April 2, 2025, and dropped two important pieces of information in quick succession. The good news was that Malaysia and Ocean Infinity has finally signed a contract for the search, under which Malaysia will pay $70 million if the plane’s wreckage is found. The bad news was that the search, which had been moving along at a brisk pace in previous weeks, would be suspended until the end of the year. To make sense of what is really going on, I turned to the person who has proven to be the best-sourced observer of the seabed search, Kevin Rupp, who shares marine tracking data and other insights on his Facebook page, Ocean Infinity News and Updates. In today’s episode Kevin reveals what was behind the decision to pause the search and what likely lies ahead.
Discussion about this episode
Share this post
The search was apparently called off since it's not the season. But maybe if Malaysia hadn't dicked around for months with the contract signing, ocean infinity would have surveyed/searched for far longer this window. The Malaysian authorities' incompetence and secrecy enrages me.
Well, bear in mind that Ocean Infinity went ahead and did most of the searching without having a signed contract in hand. I definitely get that Malaysia's attitutude has been annoying, but according to Kevin Rupp the reason the search was cut short had more in this case to do with the equipment being booked for another project.
I should have clarified I'm aware that OI did almost all their searching without a signed contract; but months elapsed between the late 2024 announcement from Malaysia on the search resuming and when OI actually got to the search zone. Seems like OI had to wait for a better prospect of the contract being signed, which to my point is due to Malaysia's incompetence and wishy washy attitude.
I'm not disagreeing with you at all, but I would fault both OI and the Malaysian government for their lack of transparency that leaves outside observers like us having to guess what's going on.