Flight MH370 Update: Debris Search Restricted To One Vessel, Malaysia Touts Cooperation After 'Catastrophes'

The sweep for debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was still limited to one vessel this week as the Dong Hai Jiu 101 waited for better weather before resuming search operations in the Indian Ocean. Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre, which is leading the investigation into the missing plane, wrote in its weekly operational update that only the Fugro Equator was scanning the sea for the Boeing 777 Wednesday.

But the situation could improve soon. Going forward, "weather conditions are forecast to be marginal but should not impede search operations," the center added.

In other MH370 news, Malaysia's transport minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, told the International Civil Aviation Organization last week that global cooperation was essential to enhancing the safety of air travel, the Star Online reported.

"We need not be reminded how important these policies and procedures are following the unprecedented tragedies of MH370 and MH17," he said, referring to the Malaysia Airlines flight that was shot down over Ukraine in July 2014. "What we do now will help ensure that the world does not see a repeat of those catastrophes."

MH370 disappeared in March 2014 with 239 people on board. Officials believe it crashed into the Indian Ocean, but only a few pieces of confirmed wreckage have been discovered in the two years professionals and amateurs alike have been looking for the mysterious plane.

Updates on the search may seem incremental, but overall, investigators' efforts are wrapping up.

The formal sweep for MH370 is set to end in December unless compelling new evidence is found. More than 110,000 square kilometers of the predetermined 120,000-square-kilometer area have been checked for debris, according to Wednesday's update.

When the operation ends, Australia will publish a comprehensive paper on the hunt for the plane, according to Spatial Source. Investigators also plan to release the sonar data collected by vessels like the Fugro Equator and Dong Hai Jiu 101.