Posted 11 June 2014

MH370: countries argue over who will pay bill for multi-million pound search

Officials yet to agree on who will cover cost of most expensive aviation search in history as they discuss new seabed search

From left: Malaysia Deputy Minister of Communication and Multimedia, Jailani Johari, Deputy Minister of Transport Aziz Kaprawi and Malaysia's Department Civil Aviation Director General, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman (R), speak during a media conference in Kuala Lumpur on Monday

From left: Malaysia Deputy Minister of Communication and Multimedia, Jailani Johari, Deputy Minister of Transport Aziz Kaprawi and Malaysia’s Department Civil Aviation Director General, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman (R), speak during a media conference in Kuala Lumpur on Monday Photo: Azhar Rahim/ EPA
The Australian government expects to spend 90 million Australian dollars ($84 million) on the search for missing Malaysian Flight 370. How much is the cost of a Boeing 777? About $284 Million. So its seems Australia owns around a third of MH370.

Australia on Tuesday said it had chosen a Dutch firm to help it map the Indian Ocean floor as the search for missing flight MH370 heads deeper under water.

• MH370 search interactive: new ‘sightings’ fuel conspiracy theories

Countries searching for the missing Malaysian plane have yet to agree on how to share costs, an Australian search leader said Tuesday.

Malaysian officials were in the Australian capital Canberra to discuss the next phase of the seabed search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that is thought to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean on March 8 with 239 passengers and crew on board.

Malaysia is in charge of the search because the Boeing 777 is registered in that country. But Australia is coordinating the search because it is the closest country to where the plane is thought to have crashed. Most of the passengers were Chinese and their government is playing an active role in the search.

“We’re still to negotiate the burden-sharing with, for example, Malaysia,” Australia’s Joint Agency Coordination Center head Angus Houston told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television.

Malaysia Plane

 

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A seabed search of the most likely crash site, using an unmanned remote controlled submarine, ended last month without finding any trace of the plane.

Australia is contracting private operators to embark on a much larger search using powerful sonar equipment. The new search is expected to take more than eight months.

The Australian government expects to spend 90 million Australian dollars ($84 million) on the search by July 2015. But the actual cost to Australia will depend on how quickly the wreckage can be found and how much other countries are willing to contribute.

Treasurer Joe Hockey said his government would not shirk its financial responsibility to conduct the search in Australia’s search and rescue zone.

“It is understood that the plane went down in waters that are our responsibility,” Hockey told reporters in Sydney. “And there is a cost to having responsibility. And we don’t shirk that. We accept our responsibility and we’ll pay for it.”

 

Sure Joe…Good thing no one has to seek Senate approval for this expense!

 

Original Source

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10888337/MH370-countries-argue-over-who-will-pay-bill-for-multi-million-pound-search.html

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/australia-malaysia/1144328.html