MH370 search ship leaves Australia for perhaps final time

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester's office said Tuesday that the Dutch survey ship Fugro Equator left Fremantle on Monday night to continue the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 alone.

His office says whether the voyage is the ship's final monthlong deployment from Fremantle before the search is completed will depend on the weather.

Chester thanked China for the services of a Chinese ship that joined the search in February of a 120,000-square-kilometer (46,000-square-mile) area where authorities calculate that the Boeing 777 crashed with 239 people aboard in 2014. The Chinese ship left the search this month.