WRECKAGE TO BE ASSEMBLED
Plan devised by Malaysia with input from Australia
THE move to assemble pieces from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370’s wreckage is in the last phase of preparations and will be finalised by the middle of this month.
Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) chairman Datuk Seri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the plan was devised by Malaysia with input from Australian experts.
He said the plan included technical preparations and related equipment to bring up the aircraft’s wreckage, which may be found at a depth of 6,000m in the southern reaches of the Indian Ocean.
“The plan was agreed upon in 2014 when we conducted a search in a 160,000 sq km area, which, at that time, was led by Australia. But now, the search is led by Malaysia, so we need to draw up a plan to reconstruct the debris of the plane and the black box with cooperation from agencies and local experts.
“The purpose of the plan is to enable follow-up action to be taken in the event that the Seabed Constructor, owned by Ocean Infinity Limited, finds MH370,” he said at an annual remembrance gathering of the incident at Publika, here, yesterday.
Present were Transport Ministry deputy secretary-general Mohd Khairul Adib Abd Rahman and CAAM chief executive officer Ahmad Nizar Zolfakar.
Azharuddin said the Seabed Constructor, equipped with eight autonomous underwater vehicles, could conduct a 26-day cycle search operation.
He said the 90 days allocated under the terms of the MH370 search contract, signed between Malaysia and Ocean Infinity Ltd, excluded time period for the vessel’s return journey to its pier for maintenance and resupply.
“We expect the MH370 search handled by Ocean Infinity Ltd to be completed around June or July this year, and involve an area of 25,000 sq km.
“As such, it is too early for us to conclude the possibility that search efforts for the MH370 in the Indian Ocean will fail.
“In any case, the next of kin will be given priority in getting the latest development involving our search efforts. We send out weekly reports every Tuesday based on information received from Royal Malaysian Navy members attached with the mission led by the Seabed Constructor.”
Malaysia signed a deal with the United States-based exploration firm, Ocean Infinity Ltd, to officially continue the search for the missing aircraft.
The deal is on a “no cure, no fee” basis, whereby debris found within the first 5,000 sq km will be paid US$20 million (RM82 million); the subsequent 10,000 sq km, (US$30 million); and another 10,000 sq km, (US$50 million).
Beyond that, Ocean Infinity will be paid US$70 million , but the search must be completed within a 90-day time frame.
Australia, Malaysia and China called off their two-year search for the plane a year ago after finding nothing in a 120,000-sq-km underwater search zone.