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Two objects have been seen that could possibly relate to the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, Australian PM Tony Abbott has announced, according to the BBC.

Australian vessels have been searching in the southern Indian Ocean for the aircraft, which disappeared on 8 March with 239 people on board.

Mr Abbott said the objects had been identified on satellite imagery.

An Orion aircraft had been sent to the area to try to locate the objects, Mr Abbott told parliament.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it lost contact with air traffic controllers.

Twenty-six nations have been involved in a major search for the missing plane, which Malaysia says was intentionally diverted.

Investigators have been scrutinising the backgrounds of both the crew and the passengers, but have so far identified no evidence of terror or other potentially relevant links.

"The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has received information based on satellite information of objects possibly related to the search," Mr Abbott said.

"Following specialist analysis of this satellite imagery, two possible objects related to the search have been identified."

Three more aircraft would follow the Orion to the search area, he added.

Mr Abbott warned, however, that finding the objects would be very difficult and said they could turn out to be unrelated to the Malaysian aircraft.

A number of sightings of possible debris have been investigated in the search for the plane but so far none have proved to be linked.