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Britain is sending the HMS Echo to join the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, the Ministry of Defence confirmed.

The survey ship - currently visiting the Omani port of Duqm in the Persian Gulf - is in its way to help with efforts to find the passenger jet in the so-called 'southern corridor' search area.

The plane vanished in the early hours of March 8 after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew.

For all the latest on the search - follow our live blog.

Malaysian authorities say radar signals indicate it turned left and travelled back across Malaysia where all communications were then lost.

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It had enough fuel to have potentially travel another 2,000 miles north or south.

Today, Australian search teams announced they had spotted some debris around 1,500 miles off the coast of Perth which could be related to flight MH370.

Satellite images show two objects, one of which is around 24metres long.

Aircraft and ships are on their way to investigate further.

The HMS Echo will join countries including Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand and the US which have deployed ships and aircraft to try and find the missing jet.

According to the MOD's website, the Echo is a survey ship, launched from Devon in 2002 to support the Royal Navy's submarine and amphibious operations.

It has a team of expert surveyors who will be able to help work out where the plane may have drifted to based on oceanographic patterns.

The ship has been away at sea since last year, carrying out sea surveys to improve charts for the UK Hydrographic Office.

It can support mine warfare, possesses an array of weapons and carries a small detachment of Royal Marines.

It has previously been deployed to the Red Sea, the Gulf, the Indian Ocean, the Middle and Far East.

Length - 90m:

Beam (width) - 16.8m

Top speed - 15 knots

Displacement 3,470 tonnes

Complement at sea - 60

Range (nautical) - 9,000 miles

The commanding officer is Phillip Newell, from Durham, who joined the Royal Navy as a graduate in 1992.