KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 ― Having already spent RM27.6 million to look for the missing MH370 aircraft, Malaysia is expected to split the cost of the next search phase with Australia right down the middle.

Malaysia’s Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri said, however, that the amount has not been specified yet, according to Australian news portal Sky News.

“Costs will be shared 50-50 between Malaysia and Australia,” he was quoted saying.

Abdul Rahim’s comments comes ahead of the Malaysian and Australian government’s expected meeting in Canberra today for discussions on the MH370 search’s next phase and costs, Sky News noted.

The portal also pointed out that Angus Houston, who heads the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) leading the MH370 search, said that the talks with Malaysia would include a discussion on the search bill.

Out of A$89.9 million (RM272.3 million) earmarked by Australia in its budget last month for the search, Houston said about A$25 million will likely go to the defence force for the visual search while another A$60 million will go to the underwater search.

“That money has been allocated but we’re still to crunch, or still to negotiate the burden-sharing with for example Malaysia,” the former Australia defence force chief was quoted telling ABC.

Yesterday, Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the RM27.6 million cost borne by Malaysia for fuel, logistics and food was “relatively small” compared to the assets given by its search partners.

“I am proud that many of our friends have come forward to help in the search and they bear their own expenses and have not made any claims from us,” he said.

Since the search for the plane that disappeared on March 8, Australia has spent over A$43 million (RM128.68 million).

Last week, Australia issued a public tender and set a 300-day deadline for a private contractor to complete the next phase of the underwater search with a budget of A$60 million.

The ongoing search for flight MH370 is considered the longest and most expensive in the world’s aviation history, with Reuters estimating costs to have hit RM141 million for the first month alone.

The Malaysia Airlines-owned Boeing 777-200ER jet, which was carrying 239 people on board, disappeared on March 8 after the plane veered from its Beijing-bound flight path and flew in the opposite direction towards the southern Indian Ocean.