The contract for one of the world’s most experienced teams in the search of the mysteriously disappeared Flight MH370 has been cancelled.
Yesterday, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) confirmed that GO Phoenix quits the search operations this Friday.
Daniel O’Malley, the ATSB spokesman, explained via email to The Daily Beast:
“The GO Phoenix, and the experts and equipment aboard are contracted by Malaysia. Putrajaya has advised that the contract will end with the completion of the current swing.”
A confirmation on the GO Phoenix' pullback was also given by the he Australian government's Joint Action Coordination Centre (JACC).
Currently, the search area covers 120,000 sq km, which is twice as much as the original search area. According to JACC, up-to-date, more the 50,000 sq km of the seafloor has been scoured.
On January 29, Flight MH370 was declared officially missing with all 239 passengers and 12 crew members presumed dead.