The Malaysian cabinet has approved a one-year extension of its agreement with marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity to continue the underwater search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced on 29 June 2026. The renewed contract runs from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 and preserves all existing terms, including the “no find, no fee” principle under which the UK-based company will receive a success fee of US$70 million only if it locates the wreckage. According to the transport ministry, the extension is designed to allow Ocean Infinity to complete the search of a remaining 7,428.54 square kilometres within the designated zone in the southern Indian Ocean.

In a statement, Loke described the decision as “a manifestation of the government’s continuous and unwavering commitment to provide closure for the next of kin” of the 239 passengers and crew. The extension also accommodates new commercial commitments that require Ocean Infinity to temporarily redeploy its primary search assets to other projects. The redeployment is scheduled to take place between November 2026 and April 2027, a period chosen because calmer sea conditions are expected to improve both the safety and effectiveness of deep-sea operations. Ocean Infinity will resume the MH370 mission after that window, the minister said.

The Boeing 777-200ER disappeared on 8 March 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Satellite data analysis indicated the aircraft deviated from its flight path and flew south into the remote southern Indian Ocean, where it is presumed to have crashed. A multinational search effort and a subsequent private search by Ocean Infinity in 2018 both failed to locate the main wreckage, though several pieces of debris confirmed to be from the aircraft have washed ashore on the East African coast and on Indian Ocean islands. In March 2025, Malaysia signed a fresh agreement with Ocean Infinity to scour a new 15,000-square-kilometre area; the current extension covers the portion of that zone not yet surveyed.

The arrangement places no financial burden on the Malaysian government unless the aircraft is found, a risk-sharing structure that has underpinned the renewed search effort. With the extension now in place, the next operational phase is expected to begin when Ocean Infinity’s vessels return to the search zone after the 2026–2027 calm-season redeployment. The dossier remains open, and the families of those on board continue to await a resolution to one of the most enduring unsolved cases in commercial aviation.