Flight MH370 Update: Chinese Vessel Concludes Underwater Operations, Search Limited To One Vessel

Chinese vessel Dong Hai Jiu 101 concluded its underwater search operations in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean to locate the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said in its latest search update that the vessel "commenced passage to Fremantle to demobilise the Phoenix Remora III Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) before the vessel returns to Shanghai."

The agency, which is leading the search for the missing Boeing 777-200, moved from deep tow operations to AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) and ROV operations in October 2016. Dong Hai Jiu 101 vessel has completed 33 dives with the ROV since October 2016. The vessel departed the search area on Dec. 3 and has completed its missions in the search for MH370.

"Deep tow vehicles are equipped with side scan sonar and multibeam echo sounders, making them ideal for searching large areas of the seafloor in a single pass," ATSB said. "The ROV on Dong Hai Jiu 101 has been used to reacquire, investigate and eliminate sonar contacts of potential interest identified during previous deep tow and AUV search operations."

ATSB also said that Fugro Equator paused its underwater search operations on Dec. 6, and will resume operations in the next few days. The vessel is expected to complete its mission in the remaining parts of the 46,000 square-mile search area by January/February 2017.

Last month, ATSB released sonar images of the man-made objects, including oil barrel and cable debris, that were examined by an ROV.

Flight MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board while on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A multimillion-dollar search for the missing plane has so far yielded no concrete clues as to the plane's whereabouts. The underwater search is expected to be completed by early 2017, following which the search will be suspended if no credible clues are found leading to the plane's fate.