Firm to receive up to $70 mn if MH370 found in new hunt

Malaysia signed a deal with an American firm yesterday to resume the search for MH370 almost four years after the plane disappeared, with the company to receive up to $70 million if successful.

The new hunt, which will last 90 days, is expected to start in mid-January when a high-tech vessel leased by the seabed exploration firm, Ocean Infinity, reaches a new search zone in the southern Indian Ocean.

The Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared in March 2014 with 239 people -- mostly from China -- on board en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, triggering one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.

No sign of the plane was found in a 120,000 square kilometre (46,000 square mile) search zone selected by satellite analysis of the jet's likely trajectory.