Petronas funds $21m for deep sea plane search

Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) will fund US $20,921,689.17 (RM67 Million) for the deployment of the prosas towed side scan sonar and marine support vessel for the search-and-recovery (SAR) operations for the missing Malaysia flight MH370.
In a statement Monday, the Malaysian oil company said the underwater search equipment and the support vessel will be used for deep-water search, according to a Bernama news agency report.
“The two assets, supplied by DRB-HICOM Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd, will join the search under the government-furnished equipment approach where Malaysian companies are part of the resources to fund the SAR operations.
“Prior to this, Petronas had consented to release its geo-hazard survey vessel, MV Teknik Putra, between March 10 and 16, 2014 for the initial search of the missing plane at the South China Sea,” the statement said.
The vessel has now returned to its routine tasks upon completion of the mission.