Ocean Infinity have begun their new search for the missing
airliner MH370. The original search during March and April 2014 was the biggest
and most expensive maritime salvage operation in history. It covered 3.2
million square miles of ocean. It came up with nothing at all. This new
operation will focus on a different part of the seventh arc, more to the southeast
then previous searches. Ocean Infinity will use new technology and experience
gained from their successful locations of the sunken submarine
San Juan and
the ore carrier
Stellar Daisy. They
have made a no-find-no-fee offer to the Malaysian government, that being if
they fail again to find MH370 they will not ask them for any money. This deal
is not finalized yet, but the ship
Armada
7806 has already sailed and reached the search zone. (I can hear Alan Partridge
complaining that they've named a single vehicle with a collective noun!) Their
ships are brand new and have on board a fleet of AUV's- autonomous underwater
vehicles. These are robot submarines a bit like the ROV's- remotely operated
vehicles, used to find the wreck of the
Titanic;
and, more recently, the
Titan tourist
submarine that sank near her. The difference is that the AUV's do not need
remote controls. They can sail into the depths of the ocean being driven by an artificially
intelligent control computer. They have special batteries that give them record-breaking
submerged endurance. Since the initial search several new theories have emerged
about where the sunken aircraft might be. The YouTuber Mentour Pilot has been
working with researchers to produce a new documentary about this, see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5K9HBiJpuk;
also see the background link below. As a result the new search will examine
these new "hotspots". This YouTube channel is a good resource because
it has some technical explanation videos along with daily progress reports. A
regular guest is Richard Godfrey, one of the pioneers of the WSPR technology
used to expand the search and pinpoint the hotspots, see:
https://www.youtube.com/@geoffreythomas-on-air.
Should this venture be successful it will close the book on one
of the most mysterious and bizarre incidents in the history of aviation. That
will hopefully bring comfort and closure to the loved ones of the 239 missing
souls who were onboard. But how likely is the mission to be successful? Also,
and more disturbingly, if results are published should be believe them? Up
until now not one single trace of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has ever
been found. I know numerous fragments have been discovered, most famously the
Reunion
flaperon and the pieces picked up by Blaine Gibson; but in my view it is not
certain that any of these came from MH370. According to Ashton Forbes, the
plane never got past the
Nicobar Islands in the coastal
region of
Indonesia
before it was "orbed", for example see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwaC4AXFqRI.
Will Ocean Infinity and the Malaysian government create a piece of theatre to
pretend they have found MH370 when in reality they haven't? Or would they plant
the real airframe on the seabed? Is the evidence Ashton has discovered enough
to justify that? If the success of the mission is real then would that prove Ashton
wrong? I don't have answers to any of these questions yet. As usual, we will
have to wait and see. I'll post updates as soon as they emerge.
See here for
background: https://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2024/05/mh370-portal.html.
