Australia has offered the Malaysian government support for a renewed search for the wreckage of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, on the 10-year anniversary of the aircraft’s disappearance.
On Friday, Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, and transport minister, Catherine King, said the government’s “sincere sympathies” remained with the loved ones of those who were onboard.
“Despite coordinated efforts to locate the missing plane over the last decade, those who lost loved ones have not had the answers they seek. We recognise their ongoing heartache and grief,” the ministers said in a statement.
“Australia coordinated what was one of the biggest search operations of its kind in history when the aircraft disappeared, searching over 3 million square kilometres above the water and more than 120,000 square kilometres under the water, sadly without locating the missing aircraft,” they said.
“The Australian Government is supportive of all practical efforts to find MH370. Australia stands ready to assist the Malaysian Government if it considers that Australian agencies are able to offer technical information as a result of their involvement in previous searches,” the ministers said.
The Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 departed Kuala Lumpur on 8 March 2014, bound for Beijing with 12 crew and 227 passengers on board – including seven Australians. About 40 minutes later it disappeared from radar and its fate remains unknown.
On Sunday the Malaysian government said it was in talks with the US marine robotics company Ocean Infinity regarding a new search. The company says it is willing and able to return to the search and has submitted a proposal to the Malaysian government.
The Malaysia initially did a surface search in the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca. But electronic signals recrded by satellites indicated the plane had turned around, flown until it ran out of fuel, then plunged into the Indian Ocean between Western Australia and Antarctica.
At that point Australia took over the search, with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau leading the underwater search from May 2014 to early 2017.
The Australian Defence Force, Australian Maritime Safety Authority, and the CSIRO also contributed to the search.
