Over 10 years after it disappeared, the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is about to restart.

On Friday, Malaysian Minister of Transport Anthony Loke announced that the country has decided to continue the search for the aircraft’s wreckage, as reported by multiple sources including Reuters. The Boeing 777 vanished while flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members on March 8, 2014.

Malaysia plans to collaborate with the robotics firm Ocean Infinity for this endeavor. Based in Austin, Texas, and the UK, Ocean Infinity last attempted to locate the aircraft’s wreckage in 2018. If this partnership proceeds, the agreement would span 18 months and Ocean Infinity would receive $70 million, but only if they successfully locate significant wreckage, according to Reuters.

While Loke did not specify an exact search area, he did mention that several pieces of debris, believed to belong to the missing plane, have been found along the African coastline and on islands in the Indian Ocean.

What became of MH370?

In the early hours of March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport headed for Beijing. Less than half an hour post-departure, the plane’s data reporting system ceased operation, although it continued on its flight path for a brief period, according to earlier reports from YSL News. However, approximately 40 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft’s transponder, which relays its location and altitude, also shut down.

According to the Subang Air Traffic Control in Malaysia, contact with the flight was lost around two and a half hours after takeoff, as previously reported by YSL News. The last radar signal for MH370 was recorded as it entered Vietnamese airspace over the Cau Mau province.

Initial searches for the missing flight were more frequent in the years immediately following its disappearance, but efforts dwindled over time. The last substantial search was conducted by Ocean Infinity in 2018, during which 150 million dollars was pooled by several countries, resulting in an unsuccessful three-month operation.