CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A Chinese navy survey ship is set to start mapping the seabed off the west Australian coast this week as part of the latest phase in the search for the Malaysian airliner.

Australia's search coordination center says Chinese, Australian and Malaysian authorities met at the west coast port of Fremantle at the weekend and agreed that the Chinese ship will conduct a bathymetric survey of the Indian Ocean floor.

The center says the ship will sail for the survey area Wednesday.

Officials believe the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 that vanished with 239 passengers and crew on March 8 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing veered far off course and crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.

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