Chinese MH370 search ship's technical glitch to delay probe by days

A Chinese ship scouring the Southern Indian Ocean in search of the debris of missing Malaysia Airline flight MH370 is returning to Fremantle in Western Australia, following a technical glitch.

According to News.com.au, the Chinese survey ship, Zhu Kezhen, was conducting a bathymetric survey-or mapping of the ocean floor-to help experts determine how to carry out the next stage of the search on the previously unmapped ocean seabed.

Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre said in a statement said that Zhu Kezhen suffered a defect to its multibeam echosounder and is coming into port to conduct the necessary repairs, adding that the journey is expected to take a couple of days.

The Australian government recently declared that the missing plane was not in the Indian Ocean search zone where underwater "pings" were detected.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said that its search for the ill-fated plane in the target area was over, and added that the area can now be discounted as the final resting place of MH370.

Search authorities said that the joint agency co-ordination centre can advise that no signs of aircraft debris have been found by the autonomous underwater vehicle since it joined the search effort.

Earlier, the Australian authorities had said that pings detected in the Indian Ocean, during the search for the wreckage of missing Malaysia Airline flight MH370, were not from the plane's black box recorder.