The search for MH370 has resumed after a research ship left South Africa, bound for a search area off the coast of Perth.

The Malaysian government has enlisted the US seabed exploration company Ocean Infinity, which chartered Norwegian ship Seabed Constructor, due to arrive in Perth on 7 February after it set sail from Port Durban on Tuesday.

The Malaysian Airlines flight disappeared on 8 March 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with 239 people on board, sparking the largest search in aviation history.

Its disappearance is one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries and sparked the largest ever search, costing about $200m.

The Australian-led search for the aircraft was suspended in January 2017, much to the anguish of distraught relatives.



At the time it was suspended, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau released findings from international and CSIRO scientists that identified a smaller 25,000sq km area with “a high probability” that it contained the aircraft.



Ocean Infinity, which entered into a “no find, no fee” arrangement with Malaysia in October 2017, will focus its search on that part of the ocean floor.