--- description: Estimates of expenditures by other countries indicate that Malaysia has thus far spent relatively little on the MH370 search. title: This Is the Country That's Spent the Most Searching for MH370 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Aviation](/tag/aviation/) ## Aviation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is the Country That's Spent the Most Searching for MH370  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 11, 2014 1:00 PM CUT  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 11, 2014 1:00 PM CUT Though Malaysian officials said on Monday that the country has[ spent $8.6 million](http://time.com/2847580/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-mh370-search-cost/ "undefined") to locate MH370, and will split costs with Australia in the next phase of the search, estimates of expenditures by other countries indicate that Malaysia has thus far spent relatively little.  Local media sources estimated that Vietnam had spent $8 million in the initial search phases, [according to Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/08/us-malaysia-airlines-costs-idUSBREA3709520140408 "undefined"), though Vietnamese officials have not confirmed this statistic. If true, then Malaysia has spent only about 7% more than Vietnam, which [scaled back](http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/03/12/malaysia-airlines-vietnam-idINDEEA2B00Q20140312 "undefined") its search efforts four days after the plane disappeared. Australia is estimated to have spent the most in the MH370 search: over $43 million, the _Sydney Morning Herald_ [reported](http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/mh370-search-malaysia-and-australia-to-share-costs-20140609-zs2an.html "undefined") on Monday. The U.S has spent $11.4 million, officials at the Pentagon [told NBC](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/missing-jet/malaysian-jet-search-has-cost-u-s-11-4-million-n88781 "undefined") in April. Chinese officials have not disclosed the amount the country has spent, though Chinese warships are [estimated](http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/04/08/malaysia-airlines-search-costs-idINDEEA3702120140408 "undefined") to cost at least $100,000 per day to operate. Another 22 countries have contributed to the search efforts. According to the [Convention on International Civil Aviation](http://www.icao.int/publications/Documents/7300%5F9ed.pdf "undefined"), a country is required to assist distressed aircrafts in its territory, and the country where the aircraft is registered is granted the opportunity to help, too. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2854385/mh370-search-spending/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2854385/mh370-search-spending/"},"headline":"This Is the Country That's Spent the Most Searching for MH370","datePublished":"2014-06-11T13:00:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:08:17.553Z","description":"Which countries are footing the bill?","url":"https://time.com/2854385/mh370-search-spending/","keywords":["Aviation","Australia","Vietnam","China","Travel","Crash","Airplane","Malaysian Airlines","plane","MH370"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/aviation/","name":"Aviation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2854385/mh370-search-spending/","name":"This Is the Country That's Spent the Most Searching for MH370"}}]}] ```