Seabed Search Update [S2Ep41 video]
Ocean Infinity was expected to return to scanning the seabed in November. But will they?
It’s November 2025, and the question on everyone’s mind is, “What’s going on with the renewed seabed search for MH370’s wreckage? Is it going forward or not?” Today I’m going to bring you up to speed.
Some context: Last December, the Malaysian government announced that the American ocean survey and salvage company Ocean Infinity would once again take up a search of the Indian Ocean seabed in hopes of finding the missing Malaysian airliner, MH370. The company had searched a considerable area of the ocean floor in 2018, but had thrown in the towel after finding nothing. This time around, a single custom-built ocean exploration vessel arrived in the search area in late February, 2025, scanned about 5,000 square kilometers, and then left at the end of March. The company made no official statement about when it would be back, but the Malaysian government said it would be at the end of the year, and reputable sources close to Ocean Infinity said that it aimed to return in November. So we’re all on tenterhooks, waiting to see what will happen and when.
My most trusted source as always when it comes to this new search is Kevin Rupp, who has reliable sources within Ocean Infinity and has been posting on Twitter and Facebook. As November approached I reached out to Kevin to ask what the outlook was for a renewed search, and he answered:
We don’t know much. The search is on hold due to winter weather in the Southern Indian Ocean. Ocean Infinity has stated they will return when the weather clears, and we have some confirmation of that through back channels.
We are watching the available vessels very closely but we are still not sure what vessel they will use. Probably one of the Armada 86 meter vessels, 02, 04, or maybe 05. Ocean Infinity has a wreck search starting Nov 5th and we suspect the vessel used for that will be the one to return to search for MH370.
Let’s unpack what Kevin is laying down here. First, he’s saying that bad weather in the area around the 7th arc is holding back the search. But for how long? On the day I’m writing this, Sunday November 2, the weather in the area is indeed pretty rough, with 22 knot winds gusting to 27 knots, and six meter high waves. But the forecast is looking progressively better as the week goes on, with winds falling to 8 knots midweek and waves declining to three meters. And with summer on the way, the weather shouldn’t be a factor anymore, except with regards to isolated storms.
OK, so assuming that they like how the weather is looking, what are the ships that we should keep an eye on? Kevin mentioned Armada 86 02, 04, and maybe 05. These are members of Ocean Infinity’s newest class of custom made ships, which as their name implies are 86 meters long or about 280 feet.
The first one was delivered only this past December, so less than a year ago, these ships are truly state of the art with the very latest cutting-edge technology. This is a bigger sort of ship than was used in the first two phases of this current search, the Armada 78, which could only deploy 3 AUVs at a time.
The Armada 86 is a bigger boat. The Ocean Infinity website describes it like this:
The Armada 86 (A86) is a 86m steel hulled DP2 multirole vessel designed to deliver geophysical survey, geotechnical sampling and inspection, maintenance and repair services… It has a removable aft bulwark enabling over the stern deployment of the Ocean Infinity AUV fleet… The A86 is a lean crewed vessel with facilities to host up to sixteen marine and payload personnel.
So if Kevin’s right and this is the kind of ship that Ocean Infinity will deploy, it should be able to cover ground more quickly and maybe get the rest of those 10,000 square kms done in just a single deployment.
So what about those individual ships that Kevin is keeping his eye on?
Armada 86 02 is currently in the Pacific. Marine tracking shows it southeast of Japan heading for Vancouver.
Armada 86 04 is in the shipyard that it was launched from, at Vung Tau in Vietnam. It seems like it’s going to start its sea trials soon so this is a brand-new boat.
Meanwhile, Armada 86 05 left Vung Tao on October 28 and is heading for Singapore.
So at the moment it seems that 86 05 is the one whose trajectory most seems to be taking it in the right direction. But that’s no guarantee it will actually be deployed.
Worth noting is that, according to a press release from the Philippine government’s press office, one of Ocean Infinity’s Armada 86 vessels — we don’t know which one — is going to be deployed to the San Bernardino Strait on November 5 “to locate shipwrecks linked to the Manila Galleon Trade and naval vessels that sank during World War II.”
The exploration activity, to be conducted in collaboration with Allen Exploration (AEX), an American ocean research company, is set from Nov. 5 to 18, 2025 and will first cover the municipal waters of Allen, Lavezares, Biri, and Capul in Northern Samar…. preliminary research suggests that at least seven shipwrecks may be found in the area, offering valuable insights into the Philippines’ maritime past… The exploration will use advanced sonar technologies onboard the Armada A86, a state-of-the-art research and exploration vessel capable of conducting geophysical surveys and deep-sea mapping.”
The straight-line distance from the San Bernardino Strait to the general area of the seabed search is little over 3000 nautical miles, not a short distance. In fact at the Armada 86’s stated “economic speed” of 8 to 10 knots, that would be at least 300 hours or 12 and a half days. So if Kevin Rupp is right and the ship that carries out the Philippine expedition is the one to restart the seabed search for MH370, there won’t be any exploration until early December at the earliest, and that doesn’t even include time to go back to port and refuel and refurbish.
So for now, I’m going to be paying a close attention to Kevin Rupp’s reporting, and following the movements of the Armada 86 fleet on marine traffic, and as soon as there’s any indication of movement towards a search I’ll be sure to drop a new episode and let you know what’s happening.