A Norwegian ship has reached the area in the southern Indian Ocean where plane debris from the missing Malaysia airliner may have been spotted.

The car carrier was on its way from Madagascar to Melbourne when it got a request from Australian authorities to assist in investigating.

Earlier on Thursday, Malaysian authorities confirmed that two objects had been sighted on Australian satellite images that could be related to the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.

“Every effort is being made to locate the objects seen in the satellite imagery. It must be stressed that these sightings, while credible, are still to be confirmed,” Malaysian MInister of Transport, Hishammuddin Hussein, said at a news conference.

It is understood the images were taken on March 16 but when asked to confirm this, Hussein said he “couldn’t verify the date the images were taken”.

The objects showed up as being approximately 2,500 km south of Perth in the southern Indian Ocean.

Four search aircraft have been sent to the area as well as an Australian navy vessel.

Hussein also apologised for the previous day’s events when Chinese relatives of the missing had been dragged out of the press conference. He said a full investigation had been ordered.