The Boeing 777 aircraft was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014, becoming one of the world's enduring aviation mysteries.
Multiple search operations conducted for the plane in the southern Indian Ocean have proved fruitless.
Ocean Infinity had carried out searches for the plane up until 2018. In 2025, it signed a new deal with Malaysia to resume the hunt in an area covering 15,000 sq.km, with the firm to be paid US$70 million only if it finds the wreckage.
The extension of the deal is for the 12 months from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027, Malaysia's Transport Minister Anthony Loke said in a statement.
"This decision is a manifestation of the government's continuous and unwavering commitment to provide a closure for the next of kin of the passengers aboard flight MH370," he said.
