KLUANG, March 4 — Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has expressed the hope that the new search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which vanished in 2014 will run smoothly.

He said what was more important were the feelings of the next-of-kin.

"I am grateful that time allowed them to understand that this is not normal, it requires close collaboration of various parties,” he told reporters after launching the ‘Orang Felda Sembrong Kita’ carnival at the Felda Ulu Belitong here today.

In January, Malaysia signed an agreement with United States-based seabed exploration company, Ocean Infinity Limited to begin a new search for MH370.

The Seabed Constructor vessel would cover an area of 25,000 sq km within 90 days.

Australia, China and Malaysia, which jointly coordinated and funded the search operation, had in January last year suspended the search for MH370 when traces of the Boeing 777 could not be found in the 120,000 sq km search area of the southern Indian Ocean.

Flight MH370 carrying 239 passengers and crew disappeared from the radar while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

Its final flight path was believed to have ended in the southern Indian Ocean. — Bernama