MH370 search becomes question of cost

China, Malaysia and Australia yesterday pledged not to give up searching for the Malaysia Airlines jetliner that disappeared almost two months ago, despite lingering questions over how to proceed and who will pay.

No trace of the missing flight has been found since it vanished on a scheduled service from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, despite the most intensive search in commercial aviation history.

With the air and surface search now halted, a new search phase costing around A$60 million (US$55 million) will begin after existing visual and sonar search data is analyzed and a contractor is found to lease the sophisticated equipment needed, officials said after meeting in Canberra.

Financial responsibility is a major focus of the talks and Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss seemed to open the door to manufacturers including Boeing, which produced the 777-200ER jet, and engine maker Rolls Royce, to contribute financially.

"They also have a vested interest in what happened on MH370 so they can be confident about the quality of their product, or take remedial action if there was some part of the aircraft that contributed to this accident," he told reporters.

"So, I think we will be looking for increasing involvement from the manufacturers, and their host countries."

Boeing said it was providing technical expertise to the investigation.

"Boeing provides experts who assist on site as well as many more within the company who, because of the detailed knowledge of the airplane, its performance and behavior, are called upon to contribute," the company said.

Experts have narrowed the search area where the plane is presumed to have crashed to a large arc of the Indian Ocean about 1,600 kilometers northwest of the west Australian city of Perth.

Last week, Malaysia released its most comprehensive account yet of what happened to flight MH370, detailing the route the plane probably took as it veered off course and the confusion that followed.

Officials have said the focus will be on 60,000 square kilometers of seabed in the Indian Ocean that could take a year to search.

US President Barack Obama has promised to commit more assets, but government sources say the United States is keen to begin passing on the cost of providing the sonar equipment the officials say they are trying to source.

The US said over the weekend that it would only contribute its sophisticated Bluefin-21 underwater drone for one more month, placing pressure on the three countries to find funding for the next phase of the search.

A majority of the 239 people on board were Chinese nationals.

"At the request of the Australian government, the US Navy will continue supporting the MH370 sub-surface search effort with the Bluefin-21 side scan sonar for approximately four more weeks," US Navy Commander William Marks said.

For now the search is on hold as the Ocean Shield, an Australian naval vessel carrying the drone, resupplies and conducts maintenance at a military base in Western Australia.

The officials meet again in Canberra tomorrow, where they will begin thrashing out the details of how to proceed and who precisely will shoulder the costs of doing so.