One expert said the latest effort to locate the aircraft by US seabed exploration company Ocean Infinity - which has chartered Norwegian ship Seabed Constructor – was the last chance for a successful mission.
A vessel hired to search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has reached the remote spot in the Indian Ocean where Australian scientists believe the plane went down.
One expert said the latest effort to locate the aircraft by US seabed exploration company Ocean Infinity - which has chartered Norwegian ship Seabed Constructor – was the last chance for a successful mission.
Ocean Infinity is believed to have a “no find, no fee” agreement with the Malaysian government, which could amount to US$70 million if it locates the missing plane in the first 90 days of the search.
University of Western Australia’s professor of coastal oceanography, Charitha Pattiaratchi, told Reuters, “If they don’t find anything in the 90 days ... I think that would be the end for decades — this is like the final effort, if you like.”
Flight MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014 with 239 people, mostly Chinese, on board.
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.
Seabed Constructor is equipped with eight autonomous submersibles capable of operating at depths of up to 6000 metres to collect high-resolution data.
The submersibles can also search a wide area of sea floor much faster than the tethered scanners used in previous searches.