By Jason Ng
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia--Malaysia said Sunday it is still
negotiating with Australia and China on how the three nations would
share the costs of the search to find Malaysia Airlines Flight
370.
Australia is currently leading the search operation in the
southern Indian Ocean, where the Boeing 777 carrying 239 passengers
and crew is believed to have crashed. It had taken off on a routine
flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 when it disappeared.
Most of the passengers were from China.
Malaysia had pledged to share the cost with Australia. The
Chinese had yet to decide on whether to chip in, Abdul Rahim Bakri,
Malaysia's deputy defense minister, said last month. It is unclear
whether the Chinese have made a decision, and no one at the Foreign
Ministry returned a request for comment.
"The sharing of cost is still being negotiated but I think it is
only fair that China [and] Australia, together with Malaysia, find
a way to share [and] bear the cost," Malaysia's Defense Minister,
Hishammuddin Hussein, told reporters at the sideline of a photo
exhibition.
Australia, China and Malaysia signed an agreement to coordinate
search efforts in the remote ocean. The comment comes as
authorities engage private contractors to lead the search after
dozens of military ships and aircraft failed to locate Flight 370.
A handful of commercial ships previously scoured the ocean surface
but only yielded garbage.
Australia has invited bids, and the winning company or research
organization will begin the search in August. That search effort is
expected to cost up to 60 million Australian dollars (US$55.5
million) set aside by the Australian government.
Malaysia disclosed last month that it had spent 27.6 million
ringgit ($8.64 million) on fuel, food and other search-related
items since the disappearance of Flight 370, but flagged that the
cost may continue to rise.
Mr. Hishammuddin also said Malaysia will dispatch a Navy vessel,
KD Mutiara, that will set sail Aug. 4 with specialized equipment to
join in the bathymetric survey of the terrain of the ocean
floor.
Write to Jason Ng at jason.ng@wsj.com
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