Malaysia yet to determine search operation cost for MH370

Malaysia today said it has not yet determined the overall cost of the search and recovery operation for the Flight MH370 which disappeared mysteriously on March 8 with 239 people on board.

Deputy Transport Minister Ab Aziz Kaprawi informed parliament that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) required every country to provide search and rescue services within their jurisdiction under the Chicago Convention 1994.

This meant that the search and rescue cost would be shared by all the countries involved, he said in reply to a question from a Senator on the cost of the operation so far."So far 26 countries, 89 aircraft, 80 ships, several satellites, a submarine and an autonomous underwater vehicle have been involved in the operation," state-run Bernama news agency quoted the minister as saying.

The search is now focused at the southern Indian Ocean, south west of Perth, Australia.Beijing-bound plane disappeared from radar screens about an hour later while over the South China Sea.

A multinational search was mounted for the Boeing 777-200 aircraft, first in the South China Sea and then, after it was learnt that the plane had veered off course, in the southern Indian Ocean.

After an analysis of satellite data indicated that the plane's last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth, Australia.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced on March 24 that Flight MH370 had "ended in the southern Indian Ocean".