Missing plane mystery: 4 aircraft sent to locate floating objects found in southern Indian Ocean

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told parliament that new and credible information had come to light in relation to the search.

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

"We must keep in mind the task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult and it may turn out that they are not related to the search for flight MH370."

The Australian prime minister also said he had informed his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak about the new developments.

In Kuala Lumpur, a Malaysian official said in a statement that Prime Minister Razak received a call from his Australian counterpart at 10 a.m. Thursday, informing him that "two possible objects related to the search for" flight MH370 had been identified in the southern Indian Ocean.

"The Australian high commissioner (to Malaysia) has also briefed me on the situation," Hishammuddin Hussein, minister of defence and acting minister of transport of Malaysia, said in the statement.

Extensive search activities have continued throughout Thursday in the southern Indian Ocean within the Australian Search and Rescue Region.