The private firm that had been searching the seabed beneath the Indian Ocean for the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 says it is ending its four-month effort.
Ocean Infinity said Tuesday that it had covered more than 112,000 square km (32,654 sq nm) since its search for the missing Boeing 777 began in January — about the same size as the area covered during previous search efforts.
“Part of our motivation for renewing the search was to try to provide some answers to those affected,” said Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Plunkett. “It is, therefore, with a heavy hearts that we end our current search without having achieved that aim.
Flight 370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew.
The initial search focused on the South China Sea but later shifted to the southern part of the Indian Ocean. Representatives of several nations, including China, Malaysia and Australia participated in the effort, which ended in January 2017. Pieces of wreckage identified as coming from Flight 370 have washed ashore on Indian Ocean islands, but there has been no sign of the main wreckage.
