Story highlights A vehicle called a towfish strikes a 2,200-meter-high mud volcano, sinks to the ocean floor

The vessel towing it will return to Western Australia for a replacement cable, officials say

A search of the complete area is still expected to take until mid-2017, authorities say

(CNN) A sonar vehicle used in the search for the wreckage of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been lost after striking an underwater volcano in the southern Indian Ocean, according to search officials.

The vehicle -- called a towfish -- was being towed behind the Fugro Discovery, a specialist search vessel engaged in the hunt for the missing airliner, when it struck the 2,200-meter-high mud volcano Sunday, according to the Joint Agency Coordination Center, or JACC.

As a result, the towfish's cable broke, sending the vehicle and 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) of cable to the ocean floor.

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The JACC, an Australian government agency created to coordinate search efforts for MH370, said that no crew members were injured.

It was believed the towfish, which scans the ocean floor, could be recovered, the JACC said in a statement.