Texas-based exploration company Ocean Infinity<\/a>\u2019s vessel Seabed Constructor began a 90-day mission of scouring the ocean bed last Monday, in a bid to solve one of the world\u2019s greatest aviation mysteries.<\/p>\n The Beijing-bound Boeing 777 disappeared from radar with all 239 souls on board on 8 March 2014, an hour into its departure from Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n The Malaysian government has agreed to pay the company up to $70m on a \u201cno find no fee\u201d basis if it locates the plane within the allotted time.<\/p>\n But on Thursday, just 10 days into the search, the Seabed Constructor\u2019s AIS \u201cwent dark\u201d, reconnecting almost 80 hours later outside the search area and on its way to a scheduled refuelling stop at the Australian port of Fremantle on 8 February.<\/p>\n A Malaysian Government weekly search report <\/a>dated 30 January stated the vessel had completed phase 1 of the search, equivalent to 4,500 square kilometres, noting \u201cno significant contacts identified to date.\u201d<\/p>\n #MH370<\/a> Morning Update – Nothing new. Seabed Constructor is now over 15 hours without updating her AIS position. I will post as soon as anything changes<\/p>\n \u2014 Kevin Rupp (@LabratSR) February 1, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n A 6 February report listed the total area covered as 7,500 sq km, noting two \u201cpoints of interest\u201d, though they were later classified as \u201cgeological\u201d, believed to be rock formations.<\/p>\n No explanation for the AIS disconnection was given and nor has Ocean Infinity commented on the matter.<\/p>\n Naturally, both experts and amateurs have offered their theories as to why the outage occurred.\u00a0<\/p>\n Writing on Reddit<\/a>, space scientist Richard E Cole said: \u201cI think that the AIS transmission from Constructor has been disabled. The question is whether this is finger-trouble by someone adjusting the AIS system settings ahead of departing for Fremantle, or deliberate action.\u201d<\/p>\n On his blog<\/a>, he later mused: It seems clear that the ship is checking out contacts (i.e. points of interest) in the areas they have scanned.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems possible that Ocean Infinity will decide to keep the AIS transmitter off for all future operations in the search area, while re-enabling it for transitions to and from Perth. There is so little ship traffic in the area that the decision could be defended on safety grounds, it seems to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Mike Chillit, an author who has written about the disappearance of MH370, tweeted a map which inferred the Seabed Constructor may have turned off its AIS to inspect the shipwreck of Peruvian-built transport ship the SV Inca, that went missing more than 100 years ago. Indeed in January last year, the same wreck was identified by an underwater drone during an earlier search for the missing plane.<\/p>\n Sometimes you get a little help from your friends. Thanks to Marine Traffic for parts of this. @LabratSR<\/a>#MH370<\/a>pic.twitter.com\/3XqxJkoowb<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Mike Chillit (@MikeChillit) February 4, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Chillit\u2019s map included the note: \u201cSailing time from where AIS was stopped to the location of the Peruvian Shipwreck is 18 hours at 13 knots. AIS was off for 78 hours. Leaving 42 hours for bacon, eggs, fresh OJ and some gold-digging,\u201d leaving some Twitter users wondering if the ship had taken an (improbable) detour to hunt for buried treasure. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Precision machinist Kevin Rupp, who has been publicly tracking the ship, dismissed the sunken treasure theories and described Chillit\u2019s posting as \u201ccompletely fabricated\u201d and \u201cbaloney.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Writing on the Facebook group MH370 News and Information<\/a>, he said: \u201cOne scenario for the AIS is that it was turned off because Seabed Constructor was looking at possible targets in areas that were already searched. Another is that they don\u2019t wish to be tracked anymore for whatever reason.<\/p>\n \u201cShe is coming from an area that was already scanned except for a small bit. She turned her AIS off while examining the area which was previously scanned. There must have been something of great interest there.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to the Guardian<\/a>, he added: \u201cI believe they may have turned the AIS transmitter to low power mode to prevent us from speculating that they had found something and causing undue distress for the next of kin.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n The AIS transmitter was turned off for privacy. It was not a malfunction. Privacy does not necessarily imply something was detected. We need to be patient and see what happens w\/o speculation.<\/p>\n \u2014 Mike Exner (@Airlandseaman) February 1, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n There is nothing suspicious about it. OI may have commercial (proprietary) reasons specific to what they are doing now. Trade secrets, etc. Other reasons also possible. Debris detection is only one possibility of many.<\/p>\n \u2014 Mike Exner (@Airlandseaman) February 1, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Pilot Mike Exner echoed that sentiment, tweeting: \u201cThe AIS transmitter was turned off for privacy. It was not a malfunction. Privacy does not necessarily imply something was detected. We need to be patient and see what happens without speculation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Amidst the theories, Air Investigation urged the company: \u201cWhatever strategy you have now, Ocean Infinity, wrong one. Request your vessel Seabed Constructor turn on its AIS\u2026 Otherwise you create a vacuum quickly filled by idiots\/ speculation.\u201d<\/p>\n Whatever strategy you have now @Ocean__Infinity<\/a>, – wrong one. Request your vessel #SeabedConstructor<\/a> turn on its AIS & allow ppl like @richard_e_cole<\/a>@LabratSR<\/a>@Airlandseaman<\/a> report fairly & accurately. Otherwise you create a vacuum quickly filled by idiots\/speculation. #MH370<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Air Investigation (@AirInvestigate) February 2, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Seabed Constructor carries eight \u201cautonomous underwater vehicles\u201d or submersible craft, that will scour the seabed with scanning equipment for information to be sent back for analysis.<\/p>\n The submersibles can search a wide area of sea floor much faster than the tethered scanners used in previous searches, Charitha Pattiaratchi, professor of coastal oceanography at the University of Western Australia, said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they don\u2019t find anything in the 90 days … I think that would be the end for decades – this is like the final effort, if you like,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n It could complete the search within three or four weeks, covering up to 60,000 sq km in 90 days, or four times faster than earlier efforts, Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Plunkett said.<\/p>\n Investigators believe someone may have deliberately switched off MH370\u2032s transponder before diverting it over the Indian Ocean. Debris has been collected from Indian Ocean islands and Africa\u2019s east coast and at least three pieces have been confirmed as coming from the missing plane.<\/p>\n Australia, China and Malaysia ended a fruitless $159.38 million search of a 120,000 sq km area in January last year, despite investigators urging the search be extended to a 25,000 sq km area further to the north.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \nwww.huffingtonpost.co.uk\/entry\/mh370-mystery-as-ship-searching-for-missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-disappears-for-3-days_uk_5a799931e4b00f94fe9517f0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MH370: Mystery As Ship Searching For Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight \u2018Disappears\u2019 For 3 Days A ship searching for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has piqued the curiosity of aviation watchers after it switched off its Automatic Identification System (AIS) for more than three days – without explanation. Texas-based exploration company Ocean Infinity\u2019s vessel Seabed Constructor … Continue reading MH370: Mystery As Ship Searching For Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight \u2018Disappears\u2019 For 3 Days<\/span> ![](\"http:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/5a799ffd1600004500139ebc.jpeg\")
A woman<\/a> leaves a message of support and hope for the passengers of missing Malaysia Airlines flight Mh370 in Kuala Lumpur, March 2014 <\/strong>” alt=”A woman<\/a> leaves a message of support and hope for the passengers of missing Malaysia Airlines flight Mh370 in Kuala Lumpur, March 2014 <\/strong>” data-credit=”Reuters” data-portal-copyright=”Reuters” data-provider=”Other” data-provider-asset-id=”206099070″ data-has-syndication-rights=”false”><\/p>\n\n
![](\"http:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/5a79a1652d00001f00943e07.png\")
A graphic issued on 6 February by the Malaysian government detailing areas covered by the search to date<\/strong>” alt=”A graphic issued on 6 February by the Malaysian government detailing areas covered by the search to date<\/strong>” data-credit=”Government of Malaysia” data-portal-copyright=”Government of Malaysia” data-provider=”Other” data-provider-asset-id=”206099084″ data-has-syndication-rights=”false”>![](\"http:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/5a79a17f1d00003b6b6adf02.png\")
It also lists two ‘points of interest’ likely to be rock formations <\/strong>” alt=”It also lists two ‘points of interest’ likely to be rock formations <\/strong>” data-credit=”Government of Malaysia” data-portal-copyright=”Government of Malaysia” data-provider=”Other” data-provider-asset-id=”206099086″ data-has-syndication-rights=”false”><\/p>\n\n
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