Australian Royal Navy ship en route to search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 pulse signals

PERTH, Australia, April 7 (UPI) -- Two days after Chinese patrol ship Haixun 101 detected pulse signals in the Indian Ocean, HMS Echo is en route to assist the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370's locator beacon.

Royal Navy hydrographic survey ship HMS Echo is equipped with "advanced environmental assessment capability" to scan the ocean surface for the MH370's black box transponder.

The Australian defense vessel Ocean Shield, which has U.S. Navy equipment aboard to locate the black box transponder and a submersible to explore beneath the ocean, was "continuing investigations in its own area" Monday, according to the Australian Joint Agency Coordination Center.

A total of nine military planes, three civilian aircraft, and 14 ships searched a 234,000 square kilometer area.

Meanwhile, the Australian Safety Bureau continued to gather satellite analysis and aircraft performance data from the international air crash investigative team in its attempt to further refine the area where the plane may have entered the water.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared on March 8 as it traveled from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

[Joint Agency Coordination Center]