Govt to pay US$70m if wreckage or black box of MH370 recovered (Updated)

PUTRAJAYA: The government will pay up to US$70 million (RM280 million) should the wreckage or the black box of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 be recovered by US exploration firm Ocean Infinity Ltd.
The signing of a formal agreement today between Department of Civil Aviation director-general Datuk Seri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman and Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Plunkett, will see the search for the missing aircraft, crew and passengers resume a year after it was last suspended.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said Ocean Infinity is expected to begin its search in mid-January and is expected to cover 25,000 sq km of a new area in the south Indian Ocean.
"Based on the agreement, Ocean Infinity will undertake the search operation to locate flight MH370 within the priority search area on a 'no cure, no fee' basis within 90 days," he told reporters following the signing ceremony at the Transport Ministry, here today.
Liow said the vessel for the search mission, Seabed Constructor is currently on her way to the search area, taking advantage of the favourable weather condition in the South Indian Ocean.
"The ship has 65 crew on board including two personnel from the Royal Malaysian Navy as the government’s representative during the mission.
"The primary mission by Ocean infinity is to identify the location of the wreckage and or both of the flight recorders; Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and present a considerable and credible evidence to confirm the exact location of the two main items," he said.
Confirming that the payment will be fully borne by the government, Liow stressed that it is subject to the area where the wreckage is located based on the division of the search area as concurred upon in the agreement.
The payment is as follows:
- US$20 million (RM82 million) for the first 5,000 sq km of the primary search area
- US$30 million (RM122 million) for the following 10,000 sq km of the secondary search area
- US$50 million (RM204 million) for the following 10,000 sq km of the tertiary search area

Liow added should the search go beyond the 25,000 sq ft of the original search area, the government will pay US$70 million (RM285 million) should the Ocean Infinity team succeed in recovering the remains of the missing aircraft.
"The MH370 response team headed by the Civil Aviation Department director-general along with officials from my ministry, the Foreign Affairs Ministry and Communication and Multimedia Ministry as well as other agencies such as the Royal Malaysian Police and the Attorney General‘s Chambers will be monitoring the works done by Ocean infinity via an Operation room established within DCA premises.
"The team will be updating the families of those on board MH370 via text messages and email as well as updated information on the MH370 official website under the Next-of-Kin (NoK) section at http://mh370.gov.my/lndex.php/en/ as and when new information becomes available," he added.
Meanwhile, Plunkett said the ship equipped with eight Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, or torpedo-like unmanned mini-submarines with side-scan sonar will scan up to 1,200 sq km of seabed daily and should be able to complete the search area within the stipulated time subject to external conditions such as weather.
The latest development came after Ocean Infinity announced last week that it had already dispatched a research vessel towards the expected search zone as a deal would be finalised imminently.
The Malaysia Airlines aircraft disappeared in March 2014 with 239 people on board, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, triggering one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.
No sign of the plane was found in a 120,000 sq km search zone following an exhaustive search by the governments of Malaysia, China and Australia.