Malaysia ready to back firms in finding missing flight MH370

Malaysia will consider resuming the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 if companies interested in the hunt come forward with viable proposals or credible leads, its transport minister said on Sunday. Flight MH370, carrying 239 people, became the world’s greatest aviation mystery when it vanished on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. Malaysia and China as well as Australia called off a two-year, A$200m underwater search in the southern Indian Ocean in January 2017 after finding no trace of the aircraft. A second three-month search, led by US exploration firm Ocean Infinity, ended similarly in May last year. Malaysia was prepared to reward firms searching for MH370 under a “no-cure, no fee” agreement, meaning payment would be made only if they located the aircraft, minister Anthony Loke said. “If there are any credible leads or specific proposals.... we are more than willing to look at them and we are prepared to discuss with them the new proposals,” Loke said at a Kuala Lumpur event marking the fifth year of MH370’s disappearance.<br/>