KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government will ink a deal on Wednesday (Jan 10) to pay up to US$50 million to Ocean Infinity if the missing flight MH370 is found within a 25,000 sq km zone identified by Australian researchers, and at least US$70 million if it is found in a search area beyond that.



The Malaysia Airlines aircraft disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on Mar 8, 2014, carrying 239 passengers and crew.



Channel NewsAsia understands that Malaysia has agreed to pay the US firm according to a tier system on a "no cure, no fee" basis, starting at US$20 million if the plane is found within the first 5,000 sq km.



The search for MH370 coordinated by Australia was suspended after no trace of the plane was found in a 120,000 sq km zone in the Southern Indian Ocean, but researchers are confident that these new coordinates could yield results.

Ocean Infinity is deploying a Norwegian research ship which is expected to search up to 1,000 sq km a day. This could mean the 25,000 sq km zone narrowed down by researchers will be covered in a month.

The last search, which took more than two years to cover 120,000 sq km, had cost the Malaysian government US$116 million.



Investigators have so far confirmed that three pieces of debris washed up and recovered on western Indian Ocean shorelines came from MH370.

Other pieces recovered mostly on western Indian Ocean shorelines have been identified as likely, though not definitely, from MH370.

