Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad says Malaysia regrets having to end the search for Flight 370 and will consider resuming the hunt if any new information emerges.

The final search effort focused on the seabed in the distant Indian Ocean ended Tuesday after more than three months. Malaysia had signed a "no cure, no fee" deal with U.S. technology company Ocean Infinity to resume the hunt in January, a year after the official search by Australia, Malaysia and China was called off.

Mahathir said Wednesday that Malaysia has come to a stage "where we cannot keep on searching for something we really cannot find."

The Malaysia Airlines plane vanished with 239 people on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.