Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has declared he is “happy to reopen” the search for missing flight MH370 should “compelling” evidence emerge a decade on from the aircraft’s sudden disappearance.
The Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 vanished on March 8, 2014 with 239 people aboard, including six Australians, en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.
Friday marks the 10th anniversary of the aircraft’s disappearance, which sparked the biggest search in aviation history but has borne out to be fruitless thus far.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Australia Summit in Melbourne, the Malaysian Prime Minister said his government would consider recommencing search operations.
“We have taken the position that if the compelling case, evidence, that needs to be reopened, we will certainly be happy to reopen,” Mr Ibrahim told reporters when asked about the matter.
“I don’t think it’s … a technical issue. It is an issue affecting (the) lives of people and whatever needs to be done must be done.”
Appearing alongside Mr Ibrahim, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged it would be a “difficult period” for those who had lost friends and family members aboard the aircraft.
“We acknowledge at this time the ongoing grief for loved ones and deeply regret the aircraft has been unable to be located despite the extensive searches,” Mr Albanese said alongside his Malaysian counterpart.
“We understand that at this time, it will be a very difficult time for people because they are not given the certainty that would come with a successful search mission.”
The renewed search effort would be conducted by American firm Ocean Infinity, which has submitted a proposal to the Malaysian government.
Ocean Infinity revealed it was interested in a restarting its search, having previously canvassed swathes of Indian Ocean on a “no find, no fee” basis.
In a statement, chief executive Oliver Plunkett said the company were keen to restart the search this year.
“We remain interested in returning to the search for MH370 and are actively engaged in trying to make this happen,” he said.
“We now feel in a position to be able to return to the search for missing aircraft MH370, and have submitted a proposal to the Malaysian government.
“We hope to get back to the search soon.”
There have been multiple attempts to identify the aircraft’s wreckage, with the original Australian-co-ordinated search finding no trace of the aircraft bar a few pieces of debris.
After covering more than 120,000 sqkm in the Indian Ocean, the search was ultimately abandoned in 2017.