BEIJING — A Chinese rescue vessel left a military port in Sanya in south China’s Hainan province on Jan 5 for the search operation for the black boxes from the ill-fated AirAsia Flight QZ8501.

In response to a request from Indonesia, the vessel, Yongxingdao, of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, is expected to arrive on Jan 9 at the waters where the jet went missing, according to the naval authorities.

Equipped with underwater search and detect devices and 48 divers, the vessel, which took part in the search operation of the missing Malaysian airliner MH370, will also help in the search for the debris of the missing flight and bodies of the victims.

The missing plane is believed to have crashed into the Java Sea on Dec 28 while en route from Surabaya of Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people on board.